


Contracted

by DayDreamer315



Series: Plot Bunnies [9]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, James and Lily Acted Responsibly, James and Lily had A Back Up Plan, Marriage Contracts, Sirius Lives, Some Adults Actually Act Like Adults, Voldemort is defeated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:22:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 50,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27449317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DayDreamer315/pseuds/DayDreamer315
Summary: During the battle at the ministry at the end of Harry's fifth year Harry's magic reacts to the near death of his godfather. When Voldemort attempts to possess him James and Lily Potter once again cross the vail to protect their child.But after destroying Voldemort James and Lily aren't satisfied and set to work making a few changes that will forever alter the life of their son and the magical world as he knows it. They have seen how their precious child has been manipulated and will not tolerate it anymore, especially when it comes to a marriage contract to a certain red head.Some of the adults in Harry's life actually stop up and behave like adults while letting Harry be the child he never really had the chance to be.
Series: Plot Bunnies [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1532360
Comments: 82
Kudos: 749





	1. Protective Parents

Harry Potter was fighting for his life in, ironically, the Death Chamber in the Department of Mysteries. Glancing over he shared a smirk with his godfather.But as he smiled at Sirius, Bellatrix managed to land a spell and Harry watched as Sirius started to fall back into the veil of death.

Something within him just… snapped.

Harry’s magic burst forward. It wrapped itself around his godfather stopping his fall and waking him from the spell Bellatrix had cast. Turning, his glowing green eyes caught on the witch.

Bellatrix might be crazy, but she wasn't stupid. As soon as those avada kedavra green eyes locked on her she felt the sheer power and rage pouring off the child. Turning, she ran.

Harry took off after his fleeing prey. That bitch had almost just killed what little family he had left. For him, Sirius and Remus were the closest things to parents he had. He was not going to let her get away with that.

Eventually Harry caught up with her when one of his spells forced her to fall stopping her flight. The crazy woman turned and started firing curses at him. Her fear only grew as the spells seemed to fizzle out as they reached the glowing light that had started to emanate from the boy.

While none of Bellatrix’s spells hit their mark, all of Harry’s did. In only a few seconds Bellatrix had her wand arm shattered with a bone breaker before she was petrified and bound with magical chains.

Harry was just walking forward to stand over the woman that had tried to kill a member of his family when Voldemort arrived, sending a curse at his back.

Feeling the approaching magic, Harry stepped out of the way and turned to glare at the man. Lifting his wand, he got ready to fight.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore flooed into the Ministry. He felt enough time would have passed for his people to be in desperate need of his protection. He was ready to step in and save the day.

When he arrived he saw that Harry was in the middle of the atrium dueling with Tom. Albus was less than pleased to see just how much power the boy was displaying, he had placed blocks on the boy to restrain his power, he shouldn’t have been able to do something like that.

Watching the duel, Albus looked for the best time to step in. He needed Harry to start to fail since there were already a few other Order members there watching. It needed to look as if he was saving the foolish boy. But so far, Harry was doing well, much to Albus’s irritation.

His plans however were disrupted when the atrium suddenly was flooded with Ministry officials as they flooed in. He should have known that those like Amelia Bones would be alerted by the amount of magic being cast. It would seem the woman had alerted nearly the entire auror force.

Amelia might have been sitting behind a desk for the past few years, but she had earned her place through hard work rather than just family connections. In her youth she had been amongst the most successful aurors in the office. Even to that day she could still hold her own if she needed to. She had also fought in the last war and knew how to handle nearly any situation thrown at her. It was for those reasons that upon seeing Voldemort in the Ministry dueling with Harry Potter she didn’t panic or hesitate.

Raising her wand Amelia cast. Her spell didn’t show any visible results, but to any who could feel magic they would know what she had done. The entire Ministry was now in lockdown. There was no way out for any of them until Amelia or someone with equal or greater clearance released the wards. She knew Fudge had the clearance, but he never bothered to learn how to control the Ministries wards.

Albus was one of those who felt the ward lock and he was furious, this was not in his plan. Tom needed to escape, Harry wasn't ready for their final confrontation. Albus hadn’t yet managed to get everything in place. He needed more time.

Like Dumbledore, Voldemort felt the wards change. This wasn't good. He might be crazy, but like Bellatrix, he wasn't stupid. He knew that even if he managed to kill the boy he would still be trapped. There were just too many skilled aurors in the room now, he wouldn’t be able to escape the way he had planned. But he did have an idea.

Voldemort had spent many years traveling the world learning all kinds of ancient magics. He had learned one spell while in Egypt that would be useful.

Chanting, Voldemort turned into a cloud of black smoke. The spell was actually the origin of the muggle ideas of genies. The muggles would see a wizard turn to smoke and just assume it was a genie.

Once he was fully incorporeal Voldemort shot towards the boy, able to go right through the shield he threw up around himself. Surrounding the boy, Voldemort set about the process of possessing him.

Albus was both interested and worried. The spell that Tom had used was something he had never actually seen preformed before, he had heard of it, but never seen it. But what was worrying him was that his pawn was in the process of being possessed. He needed the boy. Quickly he started working on different plans that would allow Tom to escape but keep his pawn alive.

When one of the aurors with Amelia went to cast towards the dark smoke Amelia grabbed his wand. “Don’t. The spell would hit Potter, not You-Know-Who. The last thing we need to do is kill the Boy-Who-Lived after everything Fudge has done.”

All they could do was watch and wait.

* * *

Harry felt like he was being suffocated as he was crushed alive. The darkness around him was ice cold and as it moved across his skin it felt like blades of glass. He could hear Voldemort whispering horrible things to him.

But that wasn't all he could hear. Harry just focused on the memory of his parents saying they loved him when he saw them the year before. The more he focused on their voices the louder they got.

After what felt like hours but was actually only moments the feeling of cold started to be pushed further away. Opening his eyes he saw familiar figures around him. His mum and dad were to either side of him. Next to his mum was Cedric Diggory, on his dads side was Frank Bryce and Bertha Jorkins.

“You came back.” Harry whispered as he looked from side to side. His head was killing him and he could feel as blood dripped from his, for some reason, reopened scar.

“We will always come if you truly need us.” Lily assured her son with a soft smile.

“Your magic can be rather demanding.” James chuckled.

“You are dead!” The cloud hissed at them.

“YOU WILL NOT HARM OUR SON!” Both James and Lily shouted as they threw their arms out forcing the smoke back.

Feeling the power building Harry extended his hands so that when his parents dropped their arms they were practically holding hands. Closing his eyes, he just let the magic flow.

* * *

No one in the atrium was moving. Most of those in the Order were just to worried about Harry’s safety.

Those from the Ministry weren’t really sure how to react. They had just seen You-Know-Who attacking the Boy-Who-Lived. For those like Amelia this was the proof they had been waiting for, many had had their suspicions and trusted Potters story, but now there was no doubts the war had restarted.

While Amelia and her aurors all started thinking about how they were going to handle things and what needed to be done, those like Fudge were panicking. You-Know-Who was back and in the same room as them and Amelia had locked the wards, there was no way out. Not only were their lives in danger, but so were their careers. After everything they had been saying about the boy the public was going to turn on them.

As they watched they noticed something happening. At first, the black cloud seemed to be growing as it expanded out causing many to take a few steps back. Then golden light started to break through.

All of a sudden the smoke was overwhelmed with the light and a scream echoed through the atrium as it faded away. In the centre of it all stood Harry Potter and a few ghostly figures.

The only sound in the hall for a few moments was the whining of a dog and the shutter of the camera from the reporter that travelled everywhere with the Minister. The reporter had been taking photos since the moment they arrived. He knew the Minister wasn't going to like it, but he knew he would win many awards and get a major bonus, not to mention the money he was going to make selling the photos. Fudge was nothing in comparison to that.

Then all hell broke loose. Most moved forward to try and get to the boy. But they were stopped by a shield that held them back. Only Remus Lupin and a large, grim like, dog passed through unaffected.

“Harry?” Remus questioned when he reached his honorary nephew. “Are you ok? P…Prongs? Lily?”

“It’s going to be ok Moony.” James looked to the dog looking up at him. “Good to see you Pads.”

“I… I don’t understand?” Remus wrapped his arm around Harry as he lowered him to the floor. “How are you here? What’s going on?”

“Harry truly needed us, so we came.” Lily said like it was the simplest thing ever.

“We ensured Harry would be protected.” James smiled. “And now, we get to cause a little chaos before we return across the veil. And yes, we do have to go. It’s Harry’s magic that is keeping us here and if we stay to long it will hurt him.

I need you two to do something for me. Protect my son. This is not the end of trouble, in many ways it is only the beginning. I need the two of you to stand by him and do what is best for him. Not for the ‘greater good’, but for Harry. Albus’s intentions are not, and never truly have been in Harry’s best interest. I know you both feel you owe him your loyalty, but you don’t. 

Pads, Regulus sends his love. He died trying to destroy that monster. He says that he managed to get a locket that had once belonged to Voldemort. It needs to be destroyed as it’s a horcrux. It holds a piece of his soul, Kreacher has it. There was another piece in Harry’s scar, but we’ve destroyed it. Another is in Bellatrix’s vault which you can claim once you are Lord Black. They need to be destroyed, either with fiendfyre or stabbing them with a basilisks fang like Harry did with the diary.”

“You both need to step up.” Lily said. “Remember, we love you, and we are trusting you with our son, fail and you will be answering to me.” Lily’s voice was teasing at the end, but there was an underlaying threat that both the living marauders understood.

“There are a few things we need to do before we go.” James winked at his friends before he and Lily floated away towards the others.

* * *

While James and Lily were talking with Harry, Remus and Sirius, the other spirits had already left. Cedric had disappeared from sight completely, but both Bertha and Frank went over towards Amelia.

“Bertha.” Amelia looked sadly at the woman. She hadn’t known her other than to nod in passing in the halls, but it was still sad to see the proof of her death.

“Hello Madam Bones.” Bertha wasn't as spacey as she had been since the damage Crouch Sr. had done to her in life no longer affected her. “As I guess you can tell, I’m dead. I was killed by Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew in Romania. He wanted information on the Triwizard Tournament. When I was too broken to be of use anymore they finally let me die.

My body is just outside the town of Sacele. It’s a small wooded area with a stream not far away that I could hear. It’s actually quite peaceful now that he is gone. But I would request my body is brought home.”

“Of course Bertha. I’ll make sure you can come home.” Amelia said sadly before looking to the man next to her. “And you?”

“Names Frank Bryce. I was the caretaker of the old Riddle Manor. It’s where your Voldywhatsits grandparents and father lived until he killed them. He killed me almost two years ago now, fed me to his blasted snake. I don’t have any family left, and no one’s really lookin’ for me but I would really like it if someone dealt with that bloody snake.

It’s still in the manor in Little Hangleton. It’s pretty vicious. The towns kids often come up to the manor to scare each other and I don’t want it hurt’n any of ‘em.” Frank said.

“Amelia, the snake was his familiar. She is very vicious and lethal. It would be best to use fiendfyre on her since he did all kinds of rituals on her to keep her protected. She is also a horcrux. Go and speak with the Unspeakables about them, they will explain.” Bertha told her.

“There is another piece in the Room of Requirement in Hogwarts in the room of lost things.” Lily said as she and James arrived next to Bertha.

“The other is in the Gaunt shack in Little Hangleton. You will need to send curse breakers as the ring is cursed with some very nasty magics. The horcrux is in the gold. The stone in the centre is a Peverell family heirloom and will need to be returned to the last living descendent, my son, Harry.” James told her.

“James… Lily.” Amelia had known both of these two very well and it made her heart ache to see them.

“There is something I need to do.” Lily smiled before drifting away.

“Amelia, Lily and I changed secret keepers before the attack.” James said. “It was Peter Pettigrew that betrayed us, not Sirius. Also, Pettigrew is still alive, he killed the muggles faking his own death. Pettigrew is currently unconscious on the floor in the Hall of Prophecies. Sirius was completely innocent and was sent to Azkaban without a trial. He is Harry’s blood and magically bound godfather. Pettigrew is an unregistered rat animagus, so you will need to make sure he is kept from transforming.

Also, that pink toad, Deloris Umbridge, sent dementors after Harry and his cousin over the summer. And the idiot, Fudge, gave her a special dispensation to use blood quills as she saw fit while at Hogwarts. She has been forcing the children to write lines with them in her detentions. There are many students who now bare scars due to the Hogwarts staffs negligence and the Ministry’s corruption and cruelty.

Also, please contact the education section of the ICW and request a full investigation into Hogwarts. Far too much has happened and the staff just hasn’t been protecting the students. The children aren’t safe, or even getting a proper education.”

Amelia nodded in shock. All this information changed everything she had thought she knew and she needed to get to work.

* * *

Lily floated over to where Luna was helping Neville who was still shaking from the after effects of the cruciatus.

“Hello Neville, Luna dear.”

“L… Lady Potter?” Neville stuttered out in confusion.

“Now, none of that dear.” Lily gently ran her hand over Nevilles and the shaking stopped as his nerves healed. “You used to call me Aunt Lily, well actually it sounded more like An Lil, but I know what you meant. I know that old battle axe of a Gran of yours wouldn’t have told you, but you were my Godson just as Harry was your mothers.

You and Harry were supposed to be raise together, unfortunately that wasn't possible. But I’m glad you found your way to each other. I am going to need your help Neville. There are those who are taking advantage of Harry and are trying to use him. I need you to be there to support him through what is to come.”

Neville thought he understood, he had seen many things over the years that concerned him. The benefit of most people thinking him worthless was that no one paid attention to him so he saw how people acted when they thought they were alone.

“I’ll help him.”

“And I will help them both.” Luna smiled.

“I know you will Luna dear.” Lily smiled at the two. “I must go now, I have many missed presents to make up for to my beloved godson.”

Lily winked at the two before getting up and meeting James as he came to join her. But before they could leave the Prophet reporter arrived. “Lord Potter, Lady Potter. How do you feel about the fact that your son has once again defeated You-Know-Who?”

Lily glared at the man. “Irritated. Irritated that the adults of this world are so complacent that it is left to my son and a group of school children to fight Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Irritated that the adults of this world are so cowardly that they would rather bury their heads in the sand than acknowledge the danger around them. But most of all, FURIOUS that they seem to think it is acceptable to attack and take out their own fears on MY little boy. But not to worry, one day all of those who attacked and insulted MY little boy will cross over and I will address their actions toward my son with them personally.”

“Come now Lily dear, Harry is my son too.” James smiled deviously at his wife. “They will be answering for their actions against OUR child.”

Giving the reporter smiles with far to many teeth, the two faded away.

* * *

Cedric Diggory arrived in the living room of his parents home. If it weren’t for the fact he was dead it would be rather domestic.

Both of his parents were sitting in their usual chairs by the fire enjoying an evening cup of tea before going up to bed as they had done since he was a little boy.

“C…Cedric?” His mom sobbed out as she jumped up, dropping her tea, at seeing her son.

“Hello mother, hello father.” Cedric smiled sadly at his parents. He knew they weren’t handling things well since his death.

“My boy.” Amos Diggory sobbed as he tried to reach for Cedric but couldn’t truly touch him.

“I can’t stay long.” Cedric told them. “I just wanted you to know that I am fine. I have watched over you both for the past year and I want you to keep living. Don’t let my death end your lives. Celebrate my life, don’t just mourn my death.

But there is another reason I’m here.”

“W…What is it sweetheart?” His mother questioned as she stared at her son trying to take in every detail.

“Dad, you have a cousin. Her name is Tabitha. Her mother was born a squib so great Uncle Walter disowned her. Tabitha’s a squib too. She is also dying.” Cedric said sadly. “Nothing can be done. She will be joining me within a year.”

“Why tell us that now?” Amos asked sadly. Why tell them of another family member just in time for them to die?

“Because Tabitha isn’t afraid of death. No, her greatest fear is that she will be leaving her children alone. She is a single mother of two little girls. Grace is 5 and Faith is 2.” Cedric said. “There is no one else for them. When their mother dies they will be alone in the world. Both of them are witches, they should be raised in our world by family that can truly understand them. And I for one know just what amazing parents the two of you can be. Tabitha will come and be with me, and the girls will stay with you. Please, the four of you are going to need each other. I want you to find joy again. I want to be able to look in on you from the other side and see you laugh and smile again.”

“Where are they?” Ophelia Diggory questioned, her mind already made up. She was not going to allow those girls to be alone.

“They live at 51 Harkness Lane, in Cardiff.”

“We’ll find them, don’t you worry my boy.” Amos assured his son. “How much longer can you stay?”

“Just a few more minutes. Harry Potter is using his magic to support me and those like me as we visit, but he won’t be able to hold on much longer without it killing him.”

“Then sit with us until you must go.” Ophelia said sadly. “Please, Ced. Sit with us for our evening tea just one last time.”

“Of course mother.” Cedric moved over to the chair that had once been his where a full cup of tea sat. His parents still always made sure his tea and biscuits were there every night. “Tell me father, how was work today?”

* * *

Lily and James appeared in the middle of the Janus Thickey Ward in St. Mungo’s causing more than one or two healers to freeze and a few to scream. Lily just raised an eyebrow as she went to stand next to the bed Alice was in while James went over to Frank.

Lily looked into the soft brown eyes of her friend. “Ally, it’s time to wake up. Neville and Harry need you now.”

Alice blinked slowly, but didn’t seem to be comprehending what Lily was saying. Lily leaned closer to whisper in her ear.

“Ally, that bitch hurt your little boy. They hurt your son Alice. Those monsters dropped him into lakes and out windows. They have nearly convinced him he’s worthless and that no one can love him. Alice, he needs you. You need to wake up now.”

Lily leaned back and smiled when she heard a low growl from Alice. Looking at her friend she saw the fury in her eyes. Alice was waking up, and all those who hurt her little boy were going to pay for it.

“Oy, Frank!” James shouted.

“James Charlus Potter.” Lily snapped at her husband in exasperation.

“Lily love, you wake yours the way you want, I’ll wake mine the way I want.” James smirked at his wife before looking back to his old friend. “Franky boy, time to get your lazy butt up. Things are happening and you’re going to need to be in tip top shape.”

Frank grumbled slightly. James had often woken him up like that when they had had to work cases together during their auror days. Like his wife, his eyes started to clear.

“W… What do you think you’re doing?” One of the healers finally built up the courage to question.

“Waking up a few friends.” James shrugged. “What does it look like we’re doing?”

“Oh, and you had better send warning to the emergency healers. They are about to get a rush of patients.” Lily simpered in a sickly sweet voice, almost as disturbing as Umbridge’s. “It would seem even though he had just spent the last year being attacked by the pathetic people of this world, OUR son still decided to protect your worthless hides. Voldemort and many of his Death Eaters attacked the Ministry tonight. And due to the fact that so many of you were to afraid to actuallyprepare, the counter attack was lead by a bunch of school children.

Good news, while many of the adults in this world might be pathetic little cowards, the children are surprisingly competent, and the only one sent packing so far tonight was Voldemort himself. Thanks to our son, once again. It tells me everything I need to know about everyone that it is left to the children to fight.”

James smiled at his wife, he had always loved Lily’s temper, when it wasn't directed at him. She had been ranting for years about everything, and she was now getting to tell everyone just what she thought of them, and he had no intention of standing in her way.

“They’ve been attacking Harry?” Frank questioned groggily.

“Yup.” James nodded. “Harry tried to warn them a year ago that Voldemort had been resurrected. And rather than preparing, they decided to attack and insult him every chance they got. Yet even still he fought for them. I don’t know if I would have been so kind. Should have let them deal with the repercussions of their own pathetic nature.”

Alice snorted. “Oh, don’t you worry James, I won’t be letting them get away with hiding behind my godson… the cowards.”

Lily turned back at that point and smiled. “I would expect nothing less Ally. Now, we must be off, a few more places to visit before we go back to our rest.”

“By which she means watching over our son and keeping track of every single person that insults him so that she can address it with them when they cross over.” James smiled before he and Lily faded out.

* * *

Lily faded into sight in the private quarters of Hogwarts resident potions master. Said potions master was muttering as he paced his quarters, so lost in thought he hadn’t noticed her.

“SEVERUS TOBIAS SNAPE!”

Severus froze. Turning slowly his heart soared as he saw the only woman he ever loved. “L…Lily.”

Lily nearly flinched at the sickeningly loving tone. “Snap out of it Sev. You do not love me, we were never anything more than friends.”

“But I do love you.” Severus whispered in great pain at hearing her say that.

“No you idiot, you don’t.” Lily softened slightly understanding he really did believe it. “Severus, you have been given love and obsession potions for years.”

“My detection charms would have told me.” Severus argued in an almost petulant voice.

“Only if they were the modern ones. The ones you’ve been given date back to Ancient Greece. The charms you use wouldn’t let you know. You need to go to the goblins and get purged.”

“Why would anyone do something like that to me? Is that all you came here for? ” Severus was still hurt, but if what she said was true then he was going to kill someone.

“It was done because you are far more controllable if you are blaming yourself for my death, which isn’t your fault. But no, that isn’t the only reason I’m here.

WHAT IN MERLINS NAME MADE YOU THINK IT WAS ACCEPTABLE TO TREAT MY LITTLE BOY LIKE YOU HAVE!” Lily screamed at him, going back to her rage.

“He is a spoiled little prince, I’m just keeping him humble like Albus requested.” Severus defended.

“SPOILED… SPOILED? YOU IDIOT, HE PUT HIM WITH PETUNIA. YOU KNEW HER, DO YOU REALLY THINK SHE WOULD SPOIL A WIZARDING CHILD?! FOR MERLINS SAKE YOU IDIOT, I KNOW YOU SAW FLASHES OF THE ABUSE MY LITTLE BOY ENDURED IN THOSE THINGS YOU TRIED TO PASS OFF AS OCCLUMENCY LESSONS. YOU AND I KNOW DAMN WELL THOSE WEREN'T LESSONS, YOU WERE DESTROYING WHAT LITTLE SHIELDS HE DID HAVE FOR THAT MANIPULATIVE OLD GOAT.

IF YOU EVER DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO MY LITTLE BOY AGAIN YOU HAD BETTER HOPE YOU LIVE FOREVER SEVERUS TOBIAS SNAPE, BECAUSE I WILL BE WAITING ON THE OTHER SIDE FOR YOU AND I WILL MAKE YOUR AFTERLIFE A LIVING HELL!” Lily glared at him.

“That… That can’t be right.” Severus was confused. Albus had told him for years about how spoiled the brat was, Albus wouldn’t lie to him.

“Stop being such a follower Sev and think for yourself. You know Albus is more than willing to allow students to be abused, he did it to you after all. If you don’t believe me go and look at Harry’s health report in the hospital wing. That bitch Pomfrey has been healing him for years, just like she did you. But she won’t do a damn thing to protect him, just like with you. She knows about all the abuse the students endure but never does a damn thing…” With that Lily was off cursing the Hogwarts Matron.

Severus was concerned. He knew Poppy wasn't the best of people. She might always lecture Albus if a student was hurt in one of his stunts, but she never did anything to stop them from being hurt, she only cared after it was too late. He also knew she had never done a single thing about abuse, choosing to follow Albus in his idea that if a child was abused then it was either a misunderstanding or they deserved it.

“What… What do you want me to do?” Severus questioned eventually.

“You are going to go to the goblins, and you are going to get purged. Then, you are going to think long and hard about just what you have done to my little boy, and many of the other students, with this attitude of yours.

I am giving you one last chance to fix the mistakes you have made with Harry. He is not his father. I don’t care what issues you had with James, the man is dead for Merlins sake, get over it. And don’t even try and play like you are the innocent victim, you went after them just as often as they went after you. Or do I need to remind you that you actually poisoned Sirius after that whole thing with Remus, he was in St. Mungo’s for a month.

It is time to be an adult Severus. Voldemort has been defeated once again. The information to stop him from being able to return again has been given to people that will hopefully actually do something about it. Many of the Death Eaters are being arrested right now. Move on with your life Sev, you deserve too.”

“What do you want me to do about Petunia?” Severus questioned. “If she really did hurt your son then she needs to pay.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I will be dealing with Petunia personally.” Lily grinned viciously. “One more thing before I go.”

Lily reached out and took hold of Severus’s arm. She wasn't completely solid, but she wasn't as incorporeal as the ghosts. Slipping her hand under the sleeve of his robe she brushed her hand across the brand on his arm that had been aching for the past few minutes.

Severus felt the brand cool and tingle. Letting out a relieved sigh he gave Lily a rare smile. He had missed seeing her.

Tapping her finger on his brand one last time, Lily faded away.

Severus went to stop her but froze when he looked down. The dark mark was gone. His forearm was smooth and clean, as if the mark had never been there to begin with.

* * *

Lily arrived at 4 Privat Drive with a vicious smirk on her face. Looking into the living room she saw her sister, her husband, and their whale like son sitting on the couch watching a movie. Both Vernon and Dudley held an entire bucket of ice cream. She had seen that Dudley was home because the school staff had finally had enough of his bullying when he broke the arm of a 12 year old. Unfortunately for Dudley the boys father was rich and a major donor to the school so he was finally punished, but it worked for her.

“PETUNIA!” Lily screamed at her sister to get everyones attention.

“YOU!” Petunia screamed back. “GET OUT OF MY HOUSE YOU FREAK!”

“Don’t push me Tunney.” Lily sneered. “I have seen the way you have treated my little boy. Making me angrier is dumb even for you.”

“WE TOOK THAT UNGRATEFUL FREAK IN. WE PUT A ROOF OVER HIS HEAD, AND FED HIM FOOD FROM OUR OWN TABLE!” Vernon bellowed when Petunia didn’t speak.

Lily gave a derisive laugh. “You kept him in a boot cupboard for the first 10 years of his life with you and only allowed him a room when you realized you might get caught. Even then you gave him your brats second bedroom rather than giving him a proper room. And food from your table, he was never allowed to eat at the table. You only allowed him eat just enough to not starve to death. But you’ll understand soon enough.”

“What… What does that mean?” Petunia didn’t want to admit it, but she was worried. She knew just how explosive Lily’s temper could be. She might be dead, but Petunia was smart enough to know Lily wasn't about to let their treatment of her son go.

“Oh, that’s simple.” Lily gave a sweet smile. “I’m going to let you understand your actions.

So… Dudley Vernon Dursley. You are a complicated case, you have only acted as you have been taught too. But not to worry, Aunty is here to teach you since your parents are incompetent. I give you the gift of empathy. From this day on, you will feel the pain of all those you hurt, be it physically or emotionally. Now, I know you enjoy boxing, so you won’t feel the pain of your opponent. Your curse is intent based, so it only effects you if you are actively trying to hurt someone else with malicious intent.”

A glow encompassed Dudley who just squeaked as he dropped his ice cream and ran from the room in fear.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SON!” Vernon shouted.

“I taught him bullying is wrong since you couldn’t be bothered.” Lily sneered. “You thought it was fine to hurt my son, so why shouldn’t I hurt yours.

For you Vernon, I curse you to live the life you subjected my son too. You were the one who physically hurt him the worst, and most, so from this day forward, you will live his life with you day by day. You will feel every broken bone, every denied meal, every hit, every blow, but there will never be any physical marks from it.”

The glow now encompassed Vernon. Lily smirked knowing it was going to be a long 10 years for the man. Since Harry was away at school once he was 11 the pain would only return in the summer.

Petunia slowly got up and started to back away when her sister turned her attention to her.

“And now to you my darling sister. I have thought long and hard about what I would do to you as I watched your treatment of my baby boy. In the end I have decided that you will get your own variation of both your husband and sons curses. You won’t just get to feel the pain and hunger you subjected my boy too, but you are also going to get the emotional effect. You are going to get to feel how it feels to be told your parents were worthless and hated you. You are going to get to feel how it feels to be called a freak and told that no one could ever love you. You will feel every moment of pain you and your worthless husband subjected my innocent child too.”

Petunia tried to run, but it was too late as she was surrounded by the glow of Lily’s curse.

“Goodby sister dear.” Lily gave a disgusted look around the house. “Have fun with the life you deserve.”

* * *

Lily arrived at the top of a staircase next to a beautiful woman. “I do hope you have an alibi.”

The woman smiled over at the ghostly red head before looking down to the, now deceased, man at the bottom of the stairs. “Of course. I am currently at a spa in Switzerland with my mother, my sister, and the daughter of Italy’s Minister of Magic.”

“How did you manage that?” Lily questioned nonchalantly as they both turned away from the dead man.

“Polyjuice is a wonderful thing. My poor dearly departed husbands first wifereally is a sweetheart. It would seem he was rather abusive and recently filed for sole custody of their young daughter, she was actually the one who introduced us.” The woman shrugged as they went back to the mans office. “I wasn't expecting to see you here Lily.”

Lily smiled. “It’s time Elora. Voldemort has once again been dealt with, but Harry is still in danger. Have you managed to do as I asked?”

“My recently deceased husband was the last one on the list you gave me.” Elora went to the safe and opened it and started pulling out parchments. “I have everything we need.”

“Thank you.” Lily said sincerely. “It’s almost over. You will need to arrange to meet with Harry over the summer. Sirius should be free soon, James told Amelia about his innocence so he should be able to keep Harry safe. I also have already addressed their behaviour with my sister and her family, so I doubt they would take him in even if Albus tried.”

“I have everything in place.”

“Thank you again for all you have done Elora.” Lily turned to the woman.

“There is no need Lily. I knew what I was getting into all those years ago. It has been worth it. Everything we need is now in place.” Elora assured.

“Even if you don’t need or want my thanks, you still have it.” Lily smiled before fading out.

* * *

After leaving Alice and Frank, James returned to the Ministry and returned to his sons side. He sat and talked with Remus and Harry, Sirius adding his own opinion with barks, growls, and yips.

As they sat there James reached out first to Sirius and took his paw. When Padfoot whined in confusion James just smiled and let his magic flow. Remus and Harry were both happily surprised as the too thin dog with lank patchy fur filled out, his coat became glossy, and the haunted look faded a bit from his eyes.

“What did you do?” Remus questioned in shock.

“Take my hand and find out.” James said as he reached out to his old friend.

Remus didn’t even hesitate, he would always trust James, alive or dead. Taking his hand he felt power shoot through his entire body leaving him gasping for breath as he lay on the floor for a moment.

“Da…?” Harry mumbled as he looked to Remus. He was happy to see the scar that had previously slashed across his face was gone and he looked practically ten years younger.

“Just give him a minute Harry, there was a lot of damage that needed to be fixed.” James assured his son before going back to talking to them like nothing had happened.

Only a few minutes later healers streamed through the floo announcing he and Lily had sent them. James just shrugged, it wasn't really what they planned, but it worked to their benefit.

The healers started spreading out around the Ministry as they went to help everyone and get those in need ready for transport. The wards may have allowed them in, but they couldn’t leave until Amelia took them down. And Amelia had no intention of dropping the wards until she was assured they had arrested all the Death Eaters, she had no intention of letting any of them get away like they had during the last war. Thankfully while there were a few injuries, no one was truly in danger of dying.

One of the healers cautiously made their way towards where Harry was sitting. Seeing the Boy-Who-Lived with a grim resting against him was truly intimidating, especially since he had a known werewolf on one side and the ghost of his dead father on the other.

“I… I need to check him over.” The healer said.

Sirius shifted out of the way, but stayed close.

“Do what you need.” James encouraged, he wanted his son to be healthy.

After running a few scans the healers eyebrows drew together. “Something’s going on with his core?”

“It’s us.” James informed him. “When Voldemort tried to possess him Harry’s magic manifested to shield him. We’re syphoning off the excess.”

“You’re draining his core?” The healer said in shock.

“It’s like when a young child’s magic reacts when in extreme danger. He’s completely overwhelmed his core. If it returned to his core now his core would explode. We are syphoning off the excess to keep him from losing control.” James explained.

“Stay as long as you need.” The healer nodded, he had seen the kind of damage what Lord Potter was describing could do. Instead he focused on the injuries the boy had.

“When you get him back to St. Mungo’s you will need to do a full medical history. He hasn’t been getting the proper care at Hogwarts.” James said stonily.

The healer just nodded. He wasn't going to argue with the man, deceased or not. He chose to just be as unobtrusive as possible as they continued to talk.

“How are you feeling sweetheart?” Lily questioned her son as she appeared next to him.

“I’m tired.” Harry mumbled as he rested his head on Remus’s shoulder.

“I know sweetie, it’s almost over.” Lily cooed at him.

“Lady Potter.” The healer nodded respectfully.

“When you take my son to St. Mungo’s his dog will be staying with him.” Lily held up a hand to stop the healer from speaking. “I do not care about rules or policies. His dog will stay with him or you will be answering to me. You will also be doing a complete medical history and addressing everything to the letter of the law. Do you understand me?”

The healer shivered at the tone and just nodded his agreement. He wasn't going to go against Lady Potter, this was a woman who had stood against You-Know-Who. James just assured his wife he had already informed the healer about the need for the health scan.

“As scary as ever Lil.” Remus smiled. No one could intimidate quite like Lily.

“Of course.” Lily gave a saucy smirk. “How else was I supposed to keep you idiots in line. It is also a fact Severus was recently reminded of, rather forcefully if I do say so myself.”

“And you didn’t let me come and watch?” James whined as Padfoot raised his head with a whine as well.

“That is enough of that.” Lily snapped. “It is time for you lot to grow up and get over your childish little rivalry or so help me Merlin and Morgana I will make you regret it. Harry dear, I had a little chat with Severus and you will find him to be a much better teacher for you from now on. If not, just tell him you will tell me on him.”

Harry gave a small smile as his eyes started to flutter.

“It’s time for us to go.” Lily announced softly as she reached out to stroke her sons cheek.

“Don’t want you too.” Harry mumbled.

“I know sweetie, but we have too. This isn’t our world anymore. But like we told you, we will always be here if you need us.” Lily didn’t want to leave him either, but knew she had to go.

“I spoke with Amelia and she will be returning a family heirloom to you soon. Think of us when you hold it.” James gave his sleepy son a wink before looking between his friends. “Look after him for me. No matter what anyone else might say, you stay with him no matter what. I trust you and only you to keep him safe and help him.”

Both Remus and Padfoot solemnly nodded.

“It’s ok baby, close your eyes.” Lily encouraged as Remus slowly moved Harry so he was laying down.

“Goodnight my son. Your mum and I love you so much and we’re so proud of you.” James added as he brushed his hair back.

As Harry’s eyes finally fluttered closed and stayed that way Lily and James said one last goodby to their friends before fading away.


	2. After the Battle

This was not what he had planned. Albus was furious as he was being pushed to the side by Amelia who was acting like she was in charge. He had tried a few times to take charge, but Amelia refused to listen to him.

To his eternal rage he was pushed to the side with Fudge. And there was absolutely no reason to even acknowledge the Minister, now that Tom had been revealed as being alive the mans political future was destroyed. The people would see him as endangering them by lying to them.

Not that Fudge was paying him any attention, also adding to his anger. Instead Fudge was surrounded by his little sycophants as they tried to figure out how to spin what had just happened. Not that it was going to help, Albus wouldn’t allow it. Fudge was out as Minister, now Albus just needed to determine who to replace him with, it needed to be someone he had more control over.

Moving slowly over he eavesdropped on Amelia talking with Kingsley. It would seem the woman was furious with him for not alerting her to the attack on the Ministry, but pleased at least a few of the aurors had been there, it would keep them from looking completely incompetent.

Albus waited until Amelia had left before speaking to the man. “Kingsley, how is everyone?”

Kings was exhausted and in pain, but he knew it could have been worse. He couldn’t believe that he had just gotten to see You-Know-Who destroyed once again. “A few injuries, but most will be ok. Tonks is probably going to need to be in St. Mungo’s for a few weeks, she had a run in with Bellatrix, but the healer who was checking on her said she should make a full recovery. Mad-Eye and Charlie were also hurt, but they’re still mobile. Fred and George were being evaluated by a healer last time I saw them so I don’t really know about them but they looked in decent condition.

I think the kids took the worst of it, but even they should be ok in time. The only one I can’t account for is Harry. That shield of his hasn’t let anyone other than that healer through.”

“It is good none of the children were her too badly due to their foolish recklessness.” Albus said like he truly meant it. He needed to find a way to lay any blame on the children for their own injuries while keeping the glory for himself, and he knew that was going to be difficult with that reporter there talking to people and taking pictures.

As Albus watched he saw Amelia return to the main atrium after a while. Moving over to her he pushed his way into her conversation, he had seen the reporter turning his camera towards her so it would allow him to appear involved.

Amelia had just finished explaining how the last of the Death Eaters had been collected and she was going to be dropping the wards. “… Once the wards are down I want everyone injured taken directly to St. Mungo’s for a full examination, especially the children.”

“There really is no need for that Amelia.” Albus smiled benignly. “I will have my students transferred back to Hogwarts and Madam Pomfrey will attend them.”

“Not a chance in Hades. Have you completely lost your mind Albus?” Amelia glared at the man. “First off, they aren’t your students, you aren’t the Headmaster right now. I have no doubt you will manage to regain the position, but as of right now, you have no connection to those children. Also, Madam Pomfrey is a midi-witch, not a healer. These children have been going against Death Eaters and Mr. Potter took on You-Know-Who on his own and has done some form of magic I have never even seen before. I will not be risking their lives by sending them to someone who isn’t qualified to address any complications. They are being transferred to St. Mungo’s and that is the end of it.”

Albus ground his teeth as the woman spun and walked away from him. He watched as she raised her wand and reopened the wards. At least he would now be able to get out and start spreading the news. He needed to be the one to tell the story, he was also going to need to arrange a meeting of the school governors and retain his position of Headmaster so he could control what the children learned about the nights events.

“Now, Albus, I think we are going to need to have a nice long conversation.” Amelia said as she came back towards him, a hard look in her eyes.

“I really must go and check on the students.” Albus tried.

“And as I just said, you are not currently the Headmaster of Hogwarts Albus. You have nothing to do with the children currently.” Amelia reminded him before she started a tirade about him not alerting the aurors when he knew the Ministry itself was being attacked.

Albus didn’t want to deal with the woman, but knew he had to be careful to make himself appear as a kindly grandfather. No one could know how he was really feeling about what had happened, he just hoped Tom had survived and still had his body.

He needed Tom out there madly killing people. The more people Tom killed the more followers he got, or at least, that was how it had worked during the last war. Albus needed those useful idiots to use as cannon fodder.

After everything that had happened that year these recent events just angered Albus even more. It had all started when Fudge had refused to listen to him. He had seen it coming, the man had been growing more and more confident in his power as the years had gone by, but he had thought it would take at least a few more years for the man to openly oppose him. In the long run it was beneficial as now that people knew he had been right while Fudge was wrong they would feel guilty for thinking badly about him and respond by being even more devoted to him.

Albus was already working on plans on who could replace Fudge. He would never forgive the man for placing that fool woman in his school and then having him stripped of his position. He may have worked with Umbridge in the past to pass laws restricting the rights of creatures but he really couldn’t stand her, and Fudge had placed her in his school against his will.

He knew good and well what the woman had been doing to the students, but had chosen to allow it to continue. It served him well also. The students would see the Ministry as being at fault for their torture that way, it would encourage them to be loyal only to him. They never needed to know that he knew what had been happening to them.

He slowly started to move away from the woman and towards others. There were a few of his Order members watching the Potter boy sitting with the wolf and dog. He needed to know what Lily and James had said. Those two had always been very dangerous to him and his power with all their questions, he doubted they had gotten any less troublesome by dying. Who knew what they knew about their deaths.

Amelia seemed to finally realize that he really didn’t care about her lecture and stormed off to go deal with whatever it was she thought was more important. Once she was gone Albus made quick work of getting assurances from his people they would alert him to anything they thought was important while he went and called an emergency meeting of the school governors.

It was time Albus Dumbledore returned to his rightful position as Headmaster of Hogwarts.

* * *

“Mr. Longbottom.” A healer greeted as she arrived in the private room he was staying in while he was at the hospital.

“Healer Kemper?” Neville was confused to see one of his parents healers there. “Is something wrong?”

“Not at all. There has actually been a rather amazing change.” The healer smiled at the young boy she had watched grow up over the years. “We had an interesting pair of visitors this evening. If you can believe it the spirits of James and Lily Potter paid us a visit.”

“They came here too?” Neville said, slightly confused. Seeing the healers confusion he explained. “Lily Potter was one of my mum’s best friends. She was my godmother. She came to see me after the attack at the Ministry to heal the worst of my injuries. But what where they doing here?”

Even after personally having seen what had happened, Healer Kemper was still surprised at everything. “They… woke your parents up.”

Neville just stared open mouthed.

“Your parents have been rather insistent about us bringing you to see them. When I heard you were here already I just figured it would help them be calmer if they got to see you. I don’t know what Lady Potter said to your mother, but she has been highly agitated.”

“Do you need me to go with you or are you bringing them here?” Neville questioned in excitement. He couldn’t believe this, his godmother gave the best presents ever.

“I’ll bring them here. They both seem to be in perfect health while you aren’t.” Healer Kemper looked at the bandages he was covered in. She just figured the Potters had conserved their energy to heal the older Longbottoms so hadn’t fully healed Neville.

Neville nodded silently.

A few minutes later the room was invaded by his parents, not that Neville got to see much because as soon as his mum saw him she threw herself at him and hugged him, seeming to be careful to avoid his injuries. Neville spent the next hour trying to calm his parents and convince them he was fine. It was when Nevill apologized for breaking his fathers wand things became more serious.

After that Neville found himself being interrogated about everything that had happened in his childhood. His mother was absolutely furious, she just kept going on about how Lily had been right and they had hurt her baby. His dad just sat with him while his mother raged, it was obvious he was angry too but seemed to have more control of his temper.

Through it all, Neville just couldn’t believe how lucky he was. He had survived a fight with Death Eaters and his dead godmother had healed his parents all in one night.

* * *

It was just after 5 in the morning when Severus finally got all the professors to an emergency meeting in the staff room.

“What is going on Severus?” Pomona grumbled out.

“And where is our delightful Headmistress?” Aurora Sinistra snarked.

“She is currently in the Forbidden Forest.” Severus sighed, he had been up all night gathering information after Lily left, and making a stop off at Gringotts to get tested and purged. “It would seem she decided it was a good idea to confess to attempting to murder Mr. Potter last summer, then tried to use the cruciatus curse on him, and she rounded out her evening of horrible decisions by calling a heard of angry centaurs ‘filthy half-breeds’.”  
“She wha’?” A sleepy Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank, Hagrid's replacement, was suddenly fully awake and staring open mouthed.

“And Mr. Potter? Is he ok?” Poppy questioned. “You haven’t sent him to me.”

“Mr. Potter is currently in St. Mungo’s.” Severus told the group.

“WHAT?” Many of the teachers shouted in shock.

“You said she only tried to curse him, not that she succeeded.” Filius squeaked.

“Yes, she was not the one that caused the injuries that landed him in St. Mungo’s.” Severus told them. “I will start from the beginning so you all understand just what is happening. At the end of last year Potter and Mr. Diggory were taken from the school. Mr. Diggory was murdered and Potter was used in a ritual to bring back the Dark Lord.

But, the result of that ritual was a mind link between Potter and the Dark Lord, it was why I was tasked with trying to teach him occlumency. It is also how he knew of the attack on Arthur Weasley and managed to alert us in time to ensure his survival. In the middle of his history exam Mr. Potter had a vision about the Dark Lords plan to attack the Ministry.

He and his little friends broke into Umbridge’s office to access her floo in an attempt to check on what was happening and get the information to Albus. They got caught. I was able to intercede long enough for Mr. Potter to pass the information to me in code. I then passed it on to Albus and the others.

It would seem however, Mr. Potter and his little friends think me a fool and couldn’t figure out if I understood them or not. So, they decided to fly to London themselves to stop this planned attack. Unfortunately they ended up reaching the Ministry before Albus got anyone else there so it was them against the elite Death Eaters and the Dark Lord himself.”

“Are they ok?” Charity Burbage, the muggle studies professor, asked softly.

“Well, they’re all at St. Mungo’s, but they’re all alive, so they did pretty well.” Severus shrugged slightly.

“Who all was it that went?” Pomona asked, wondering which students had managed to make it out of school without getting caught.

“Potter, Granger, the two remaining Weasleys, Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood.” Severus named.

“Ms. Lovegood?” Filius sat up a little straighter. “My prefects are supposed to do a head count at curfew, they recorded everyone as present.”

“While they obviously didn’t do it properly.” Severus told him. “But that is neither here nor there right now. There is going to be fall out as a result of tonight. First of all, it appears as if Potter has once again defeated the Dark Lord.”

“WHAT?” The teachers all shouted again.

“Yes, the Dark Lord attempted to possess him. From what I’ve learned Potters magic fully manifested to protect him.” Severus was still confused as to the specifics of what had happened.

“His magic fully manifested?” Filius asked in a stunned voice.

“What does that mean?” Pomona asked fearfully.

“Fully manifesting ones magic is to force it out of the core and drawing it up around ones self. It is effectively pure wandless magic. There has only been a handful of witches and wizards who were able to fully manifest their magic, but most died shortly after as when the magic returned to the core it caused the core to explode.” Filius lectured. “Only those on the level of Merlin, Morgana, and Boudica were able to do it and survive. From what little was written they needed to fully exhaust their magic for it to be safe for it to return to their cores.”

“And that was what happened. Potter is currently unconscious suffering from severe magical exhaustion along with the injuries he received during the fight. Lupin is there with him.” Severus told them.

“How did he manage to exhaust himself?” Filius questioned, as a dueler he wondered just how the boy had managed to survive.

“He called his parents.” Severus watched as everyones faces became shocked before turning to confusion. “Somehow the spirits of James and Lily, along with a few others, including Mr. Diggory crossed the veil and used Potters manifested magic as an anchor. They drained his magic by remaining, once Potters magic levels were low enough for him to survive they returned across the veil.”

“Are you sure?” Filius asked softly. What the potions master was saying sounded insane.

“Yes, Lily herself paid me a visit.” Severus couldn’t help but shuffle his feet. Normally he had much more control over his emotions but he was just too overwhelmed with everything that had happened and was too tired to censor himself to his usual degree.

“And what did Lily have to say to you?” Filius didn’t even try to hide his smile, he knew just what Lily’s temper was like.

Severus glared at the man seeing the joy he was feeling. “The gist of the shouting was that I am to adjust my attitude towards her son or I had better hope I live forever.

But that isn’t the point of this meeting. The papers are going to be printing as much as possible so the children are going to be riled up. All of the Death Eaters that were involved in the attack have been arrested, a few of them have family members currently at the school so we are going to need to try and protect them from being attacked because of what happened.”

The others just decided to let the topic of Lily’s yelling at Severus drop, for now, and instead focused on getting ready for the chaos that was going to be the next few days.

* * *

Amelia was absolutely exhausted as she made her way into St. Mungo’s just as the sun was rising. She had spent the entire night trying to gain control over the mess that was that nights events. Fudge had managed to screw up epically and she was the one that had to clean up the mess.

First she had had to ensure all the Death Eaters were properly restrained and charges were filed. She had made extra sure that Peter Pettigrew, who she had found right where James and Lily had told her he would be, was in a cell that would block him from transforming into his animagus form.

After that was when the real work started and she ended up doing everything all at the same time. She had needed to work out a formal statement to give to the papers about the arrests so as not to create panic. Notifications to the families of both the Death Eaters and those injured needed to be sent out, St. Mungo’s would also be sending out notification of who they had but she felt it would be better if she also informed them since the Ministry was already going to be targeted with angry letters over this and the last thing they needed was angry parents saying they had denied them information about their children's safety.

Fudge had been trying to arrange a big press conference so he could try and spin everything which was why Amelia was able to gain access to his office while everyone was running around and found the paperwork giving Deloris Umbridge the right to use the blood quill she had been told about. Once she had proof of that she reached out to the ICW. The Headmistress of an ICW certified school had been accused of torturing the students under her charge and there was evidence in the form of the paperwork. The ICW had taken up the charge with gusto, they had been trying to gain access to Hogwarts to assess the school for over a decade but Albus had been using his position and reputation to block everything, Now that the man was out and no longer at the school they could do their jobs.

While the ICW representatives were making their arrangements to arrive in Britain she had had her people pulling everything they had on the Sirius Black case, which proved to be next to nothing. And that meant she needed to conduct a full interrogation of Pettigrew, she was just thankful the man was stupid enough to willingly agree to take truth serum so she could get the full story. With that done she then needed to write up a press release about Sirius being innocent as well as withdraw the kiss-on-sight order and find some way to contact the man himself and get him in for an interview so she could formally withdraw all charges against him.

From there she needed to contact the aurors and start setting up a new schedule. There was going to be a great deal of unrest once the people fully understood just how much danger they had been in, and plenty of partying now they knew they were safe.

And then with all of that on the go she had to go to the hospital and check in with the injured, which included a few Death Eaters who were under guard. She had gotten a message requesting her presence from the healers assigned to Harry Potter.

“Mr. Lupin.” Amelia greeted as she slipped past the two aurors guarding the door and into the room where Harry Potter lay. “How is he?”

“Magically exhausted. He had a few cuts and bruises, but those were healed quickly. Now it’s just a waiting game for his core to replenish.” Remus told her tiredly. “The Healers say it could be anywhere between a few days to months, there’s nothing they can do to speed it along. So, what brings you here?”

“I came to check on everyone and I got a message from Mr. Potters healers requesting my presence.” Amelia gratefully sat down when Remus ushered her to one of the chairs.

“His healers said they would be back in a few minutes to run a few more checks.” Remus told her.

“That’s fine, I needed to have a word with you about something.” Amelia gave him a calculating look. “Lily and James told me Peter Pettigrew was their secret keeper and that he had framed Sirius Black. I checked everything, and interrogated Pettigrew who is currently in a holding cell and confirmed everything. I need a formal statement from Black and then I can formally withdrawall charges and close out his case. You wouldn’t know how to get a message to him, would you?”  
Remus looked at her thoughtfully, but before he could decide whether to trust her or not Sirius made the decision for him. “I think I’ll get the message Amelia.”

Amelia jumped before looking to see Sirius Black sitting on the side of the bed that had previously been occupied by a grim like dog before sighing. “Of course it’s you.”

“We can set up a time for my interview later, I don’t want to leave Harry right now.” Sirius told her.

“If we can set up a way to communicate that would be fine. It would be easier to give me a few days so I can clear my, now, very busy schedule. But, I don’t want to put off getting you formally free for very long. Your innocence is going to be announced in the evening edition of the prophet as it is just so people don’t come after you if they see you. It would be in the morning edition, but the whole You-Know-Who thing seems to have taken priority from what I’ve been told.” Amelia told him.

“That’s fine. Just send anything for me to Remus, he’ll make sure I get it.” Sirius gave a cold smile. “One other thing. I am supposed to be Harry’s legal guardian. I was blocked from taking him because of that whole, sent to Azkaban without trial thing, but since I was never convicted I should still have legal custody. I need you to ensure that I am listed as his guardian and remove which ever idiot the Ministry assigned. Harry is my godson and he will be coming home with me at the end of the school year the easy way or the hard way. If you need any proof of that you can get Lily and James’s wills unsealed. I remember James saying they had a very detailed custody list.”

Amelia rubbed a hand down her face as her work load grew again. “I will fix the paperwork for you. Also, you are aware that being an unregistered animagus is worth a year in Azkaban, correct?”

“He informed the Ministry.” Remus quickly cut in before Sirius could speak. “He told his boss at the time. Bartemius Crouch. He told me it was decided it was a valuable asset if kept a secret so Bartemius told him and James not to formally register at the registration office and instead kept the information in a private file. If he never informed you as his successor that is on him, not Sirius. Sirius should not be punished because a member of the Ministry failed to do their job.”

Amelia smirked at the fast talking werewolf before turning to Sirius. “Is that the way you remember things?”

“Yup.” Sirius grinned. “Word for word, that’s what happened. I swear on my honour.”

Amelia snorted. “You do remember I knew you in school, correct Sirius. You never had honour unless you wanted too.”

“Honour, honour among thieves.” Sirius shrugged. “It’s all the same thing to me.”

“I will correct the record when I return to the Ministry. I just need your forms. Clearly you are a dog, but you mentioned James, what was he?” Amelia pulled out her notebook.

“He was a stag.” Sirius smiled for a second before hearing someone at the door and quickly shifting back.

“Good, you’re here.” The young healer who had been the one to sit with them at the Ministry said as he caught sight of Amelia.

“Yes, I’m here. What is it you needed to discuss with me?” Amelia asked.

“Lord and Lady Potter both ordered me to run a medical history scan on their son.” The healer pulled out the paperwork and handed it over. “There is clear evidence of long term abuse. We are legally required to contact your department in cases like this.”

Amelia hushed the dog that had started growling at the word abuse. “I will handle it. Do you know where he was living?”

“He was with Lily’s sister and her family. Petunia Dursley, nee Evans, she’s married to Vernon Dursley, and they have a son a few weeks older than Harry, Dudley Dursley. They live at 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.” Remus told her.

Amelia nodded her understanding at the angry tone the man had. “Since they are muggles we can’t charge them in out courts. I will pass this over to my counterpart in the muggle government and he will conduct the investigation on their side. If that is all, I now seem to have a lot more work to do before I get to sleep.”

The others just watched her leave.


	3. Reactions

The next day was as crazy as Amelia had thought it was going to be. The morning edition of The Prophet had dedicated the entire top half of the first page to a single picture. It showed Voldemort turn into the black cloud and attack Harry only for him to be torn apart by golden light, the black smoke cleared to show Harry standing with his parents and the others.

Under that was the story confirming the return of You-Know-Who just to announce that Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, had defeated him once again. They were back to turning Harry into a tragic little hero, completely ignoring that they had been amongst those attacking him just days before. It would seem The Prophet had chosen its side, and it wasn't Fudge’s.

This meant there were thousands of howlers arriving at the Ministry. Everyone was furious about the danger they, and their families, had been in and that Fudge, and the rest of the Ministry under his instruction, had been lying to them about it. As Amelia had thought, Fudge’s career was over, no one was going to be forgetting this any time soon.

And that was just the start of the day at the Ministry. Normally, The Prophet usually put out a morning and evening edition. But with everything going on they were going to be adding an afternoon edition as well.

Along with going over the information about You-Know-Who again, the afternoon edition included a rather dramatic retelling of James and Lily’s arrival at St. Mungo’s and their healing of the Longbottoms. That article was connected to a smaller one about how Neville was also at the hospital recovering from his assisting Harry Potter at the battle in the Ministry. Along with the write up about Neville having been involved in the fight they mentioned the other students who had accompanied them.

It was in the evening edition that Sirius Blacks innocence was announced, backed up by the arrest of Peter Pettigrew. Included in that edition was an interview conducted with Frank and Alice Longbottom where they were asked about everything going on, including Sirius. Alice was very vocal in her opinion about an auror she had worked with, not to mention been her friend, being sent to Azkaban without trial. She went on at length about how much Sirius had loved Harry and how he was his godfather.

The announcement of Sirius’s innocence had brought an irate Fudge to Amelia’s house. She had just managed to get home and was excited to eat her dinner and finally get to go to bed. Then Fudge had arrived at her door. Amelia had not been kind to the man, raking him over the coals for his actions in regards to trying to get Black killed before he had a chance to defend himself. Once she was done yelling at him she ordered him out of her house or she would hex him into a glow bug, he had practically flown from the room at that.

As Amelia finally laid down after a full day and a half she knew the next day was going to be just as busy. Nothing was going to settle down until Harry Potter woke up and people calmed down.

* * *

At Hogwarts it was chaos. As soon as the morning papers had arrived people had started screaming. The staff tried to keep some semblance of control, but they didn’t have any luck.

Any attempts to keep things calm ceased when representatives from the ICW arrived and informed the staff that they and the entire school were being placed under review. With Umbridge missing in the forest and McGonagall still in St. Mungo’s from the attack on her the ICW representatives took immediate control of the school.

Albus managed to get the board of governors to put him back as headmaster, but by then it was too late. Albus arrived back at the school just after lunch and the investigation had formally been started before lunch. When the ICW started an investigation it could only end when it was completed, meaning there was no way for Albus to stop it now, that was one of the reasons he had always used all his different positions to block an investigation from starting.

Everything was going to be looked at, including the school budget and the courses offered and neither of those things were good for Albus. When it came to the schools finances he had technically followed the letter of the law, but some of what he had done would be seen as bad if the public knew. He had managed to get his salary raised to the point that he made over 3 times as much as the Minister.

Then there was the courses. Over the years Albus had been removing more and more classes, and finding ways to funnel the money that would have paid for them back to himself. With the classes he didn’t cut he restricted what they could teach and lowered the requirements to teach. He knew the ICW was not going to be pleased about the low standards he had created, it was why he had been stopping the ICW from even looking at Hogwarts for over 40 years. Albus needed to remain in control and the best way to ensure that was to stop people from becoming too strong.

It was that evening that Albus finally managed to arrange a meeting with the person in charge of the ICW team. He was slightly annoyed he hadn’t been tipped off since the man owed him. But it wasn't a man that walked into his office.

“Hello Headmaster Dumbledore.” The beautiful woman with long dark hair and dark brown eyes gave him a predatory smile.

“Lady Zabini.” Albus said in slight shock at seeing the woman in his school, no one warned him the ‘black-widow’ was roaming the halls. “I am wondering why you’re here. Mr. Tianer is in charge of the European section of the ICW’s education department.” Albus had personally arranged for the man to have that position since he owed him enough he wouldn’t dare go against him.

“I regret to inform you that my late husband passed just last night.” Elora Zabini showed absolutely no remorse for the mans death, she knew even if she did Albus Dumbledore wouldn’t buy it. “It was all so sudden. I was at a spa with my mother and a few others at the time. The healers said he was drunk and slipped on the stairs.

I had been assisting him with the paperwork since we got married so the new Supreme Mugwump, Hans Eskelson, suggested I finish out the rest of Randolph's contract. His contract is up in just over a year so I will be in charge of the investigation until then, if it goes that long. Hans thought it would keep me from falling into grief and I just couldn’t refuse.”

Elora neglected to mention that Eskelson had offered her the position after she handed him photos of him with his young mistress. Men were just so easy to control. It was time Albus Dumbledore was forced to deal with a woman. He had been walking all over the men in charge of their world for years, but she wouldn’t let him do that to her.

“My sympathies on the loss of your husband.” Albus said in a bland voice, they both knew the score on what had happened to the man,Albus had lost more than one or two of his allies to the womans lethal affection. “As it is, there really is no need for all this. The school may have had a few problems since I was forced out by Cornelius and Deloris, but now that I am back things will be going back to normal.”

“Oh I think there is every reason for this investigation.” Elora gave a frosty smile. “The actions of the now former Headmistress are only part of the complaint that was filed. There are many other issues that have been developing over the years that you have blocked anyone from assisting you in correcting. But not to worry, now that the investigation is started we will be as thorough as possible and we will correct all those pesky little issues.”

Albus stopped the twinkle in his eyes. What no one knew was that Albus was able to slightly manifest his magic, not to the extent Harry had, but enough. When his eyes were twinkling what was really happening was Albus was forcing his magic into them and casting wandless and silent spells, usually compulsions, they weren’t nearly as strong as the ones he could cast with his wand, bit it was more then enough for the gullible sheep he generally met with. But it would seem Elora Zabini was just too stubborn for his wandless magic.

There was nothing Albus could do at that moment so he called the meeting to an end. He was going to have to go to the Ministry and get them to protest the ICWs actions, but he couldn’t do that until a new Minister had been elected and he had regained his position as Chief Warlock. And both of those things were going to take at least a week, but most likely more.

* * *

Other than Harry, who still remained unconscious, the other Hogwarts students that had gone with him to the Ministry were returned to the school just after lunch on the second day. Thanks to the Healers at St. Mungo’s they were all in good condition.

Hermione and Ron both still needed to take a follow up potion each day for the next week, but other than that they were back to full health. That was the benefit of going to a proper hospital rather than just the hospital wing. It could have taken weeks for them to be at the recovery level they were then.

Neville had returned, but it was hesitantly. He had wanted to stay with his parents, he finally had them back and didn’t want to have to be away from them any time soon. It had been his parents that had encouraged him to return for the last week and a half of school. As much as they wanted to be with him there was also a lot that they needed to do. It was still going to be a few days before they were discharged from the hospital since their healers wanted to do some final tests just to be sure they really were ok. And after that both Frank and Alice were going to be addressing all those who had been involved in Neville’s tormented childhood and making sure they understood just how they felt about their actions. Once that was done they were going to need to prepare one of the Longbottom properties for them and Neville since they didn’t want to have to live with Augusta and they figured there was just too many bad memories associated with Longbottom Hall.

The five students were instant celebrities, everyone wanting to get their version of events. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny thrived under the attention but Neville and Luna didn’t know how to handle everyone looking at them.

When Luna had first returned to her common room even she had been startled to find nearly everyone of her housemates there waiting. The only students missing were the ones that still had exams to finish. The rest were giving her an almost… hungry look.

They all had questions about what had happened. Luna had never been given so much attention from her housemates, let alone positive attention. She was used to many of them mocking her, but normally they were in smaller groups when they did that.

It wasn't until Professor Flitwick arrived and broke the impromptu meeting up that Luna was able to get away from the rest of her house, but that didn’t help her with her dorm mates who followed her into their room.

When Neville, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny arrived in their own common room they found a very similar scene to the one Luna had. Nearly everyone in Gryffindor was waiting for them. When the rest of the house descended on the others with questions Neville slipped up to his dorm, he didn’t feel like reliving what had happened yet again. He just wanted a bit of time to himself to work his way through everything that had happened on his own for a while. Leave it to the other three to continuously talk about everything.

Neville hadn’t forgotten what he had told Lily. He was going to do everything he could to protect Harry, after everything his friend deserved some peace. Harry deserved better than he had gotten in the past.

As Neville was promising himself to protect his friend Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were basking in the attention they were getting from the rest of their house. The three had always basked in the limelight they got by being the closest friends of the Boy-Who-Lived.

Ron truly didn’t understand why anyone really cared about Harry, the boy was just such a whiny loser, if it weren’t for his fame no one would even pretend to care about him he was sure. When he had been a kid the idea that he was groomed to be Harry Potters best friend had been a point of pride, then he had met the boy. Harry Potter was a tiny little freak that was nothing like the stories had said he would be. He had spent the entire first year hoping that Harry would get better, but instead he got worse. Every time Ron turned around that year Harry had nearly gotten himself, or them all killed. His mum had spent nearly the entire summer before his second year making sure he knew he couldn’t back out and that he had to follow through with their plan, much to his aggravation.

The only good things that had come from his association with Harry was the attention he got and Hermione. Normally Ron wouldn’t have given Hermione a second look since she had a habit of being an annoying know-it-all. But Hermione had proven herself to be a much better friend than Harry could ever be. She was smart and willing to fix his homework for him, and she hated Harry almost as much as he did.

But the downside of the fame was the pain. Harry was always getting him hurt. It had started with him getting him bit by that dragon in their first year and followed through until the battle at the Ministry. Every single year Ron had been endangered by Harry’s stupidity.

Sure, he and Hermione had been using compulsion potions since their first year to force Harry to go on those adventures the Headmaster had arranged, but it was still Harry’s fault. If Harry had been better he would have been able to handle things, it wasn't like the Headmaster had made the tasks too difficult. Ron was sure that if he had been the one leading they would have all come out of it fine.

But at that moment he had forgotten all about Harry. Sitting in the centre of the common room Ron basked in the attention. For once Harry wasn't there distracting everyone from how great he was.

Like Ron, Hermione was enjoying the attention. When Hermione had first learned about magic when she was 11 she had made it her business to learn as much as she could. One of the things she had stumbled on was the books about Harry Potter, they weren’t what she was interested in but she had gotten them to know what was classed as popular reading. The boy that the books had described had been an arrogant little jerk and Hermione had sworn she would make sure those like that learned their place.

Then she had actually met Harry, and he had been even worse. The boy had been such a disrespectful idiot. She had disliked him on principal. Then the Headmaster had started encouraging her to make friends with him. Hermione had always respected those in authority, especially those in school, but even she had balked at the idea of being friends with such a boy. But in the end, she did as he had instructed.

On Halloween she had been in the washroom because the Headmaster had suspected something was going to happen. The troll had been a complete surprise. After that she had gone and spoken with him about it and he had told her about how he thought You-Know-Who was around but even he had been surprised by how much danger she had been exposed to. While she was grateful that Harry had come after her, she still found his reckless arrogance aggravating, but she had done as instructed and insinuated herself in his life.

The next few years had been aggravating. Harry just never listened to her like he should. He never studied when she told him to, he never did his homework when she told him too, he never followed the rules, and he never got help when she said too. He was always getting her and Ron in trouble and danger.

Hermione played the role she had been given, but she generally didn’t enjoy it. But it was moments like these that made it all worth it.

Sitting in the centre of the room Hermione got to work spinning her tale with the others, making sure to add her opinions. Hermione planned to get involved with the government and politics when she was done with school, she, like the Headmaster, knew what was best. It was one of the few benefits that came from pretending to care about Harry, people listened to her more. As far as the idiots around her knew, every word out of her mouth may as well have come from the dark haired boy.

Ginny preened under all the attention she was getting. For Ginny money and attention was all, and Harry Potter was going to ensure she had both for the rest of her life. As a little girl her mum had told her all about the Boy-Who-Lived and how she was going to be his wife. Ginny was going to be Lady Potter, with all the money and fame that included.

When Harry had saved her life in her first year Ginny had known all the stories her mum had told her were true, Harry was a hero and he loved her. But as the years went by she became slightly disenchanted. As she started to get a clear view of Harry she couldn’t help but think he was slightly pathetic.

The boy was just so whiny. It was like he was never grateful for his chances to prove himself worthy of her. He also wasn't exactly attractive, Harry could only be described as pretty with his delicate features and big eyes, Ginny wanted him to be sexy. But since that didn’t look like it was going to happen she had accepted she was going to be married to a pretty man, she would just take a handsome sex god as her lover, after all, Harry should have to stay faithful to her but she deserved to have her fun.

And now it was going to be that much better to be his wife. He had once again destroyed You-Know-Who which meant that he was going to be even more famous. And she was going to get all that fame, not just because she was his wife, but because she had also been in the fight.

For Ginny, life was going just as she wanted. She just had to break up with Dean Thomas so she could get together with Harry. She had started dating the boy a few days before in the hopes of making Harry jealous. But despite her plans, Harry hadn’t even noticed.

It had been the same way with Michael Corner. But like it was with Dean, Harry hadn’t even known they were seeing each other until she told him. But, she hadn’t been too angry, Michael was a great deal of fun and very inventive in bed. She had only broken up with him once he started getting whiny and annoying about quidditch.

Ginny knew that her parents and the Headmaster were going to arrange for a marriage contract between her and Harry so she didn’t even really need to worry about how blind Harry was. She also knew they would make sure it was in her favour. Her mum had talked with her about it over the summer before they went to the Black house. She had assured her that Ginny would have complete control of the vaults and would be the one to make any major decision. Her mum had even mentioned possibly making it an absolute contract with her in the dominant position.

The plan had always been for the contract to be made, but they had thought they would have a few more years before Harry managed to defeat You-Know-Who again. Her mum had wanted her to get close to Harry so it didn’t look like a set up, but since Harry was being an idiot the contract would be there to force him to do the right thing. Ginny was sure once Harry smartened up he would see how lucky he was to be with her.

The only thing Ginny wasn't exactly looking forward too was that she was going to have to have a child. But she could rationalize it. If she had a child while she was still in school her mum would look after it. Plus her body would have time to recover so she could join a professional quidditch team when she graduated.

Ginny couldn’t wait for this summer to begin so she could have her dream wedding.

* * *

The day after arriving back at the school Hermione and Ron were holding court in one of the main courtyards. They were surrounded by close to 30 of their schoolmates, including Neville who was sitting off to the side since he didn’t like to be surrounded by a crowd.

The two were once again regaling everyone with what had happened at the Ministry. Neville couldn’t help but roll his eyes from time to time as he heard details that were completely outlandish. Over the past 24 hours Neville had heard multiple different versions of the battle at the ministry, and every one glorified the actions of Hermione, Ron, and Ginny while almost ignoring everyone else that was there. But he knew that was because it was the three of them that had been telling those stories and they changed details each time.

But it was when Hermione started talking about Harry and how he felt they needed to do away with the Lordship system and the Statute of Secrecy that Neville truly got angry. He understood they just wanted attention and that was why they exaggerated their stories, but Hermione was acting like her beliefs were Harry’s. She was trying to get people to support what she wanted by using Harry. But more than that she was going on about how he had said those things since the battle, Harry still hadn’t woken and she was acting like he had.

“Ten points from Gryffindor Ms. Granger, for lying about a fellow housemate.” Severus had come up behind Hermione and Ron unnoticed and heard what was being said.

“I haven’t lied about anything.” Hermione said indignantly.

In times previous, even just a few days before, she never would have spoken to a teacher like that, but now she was confident in her position. Professor Snape might be a Professor, but he had also been a death eater. Now that You-Know-Who was gone Headmaster Dumbledore surely had no more use for him and he would be sent to Azkaban where he belonged.

Sure, he had been a spy, but he had still joined the death eaters. Hermione was sure the only reason he helped the Headmaster and the light side was because Headmaster Dumbledore made him. There was no way she would accept Professor Snape did it for any truly good reason. Once a death eater, always a death eater.

“Yes Ms. Granger, you are lying.” Severus said coldly, wondering just how many times she had pretended Harry’s views were the same as her own. “Mr. Longbottom, can you explain just how I know Ms. Granger is lying about what Mr. Potter thinks and feels?”

Neville fidgeted slightly, surprised at the encouraging nod he got from his most intimidating teacher, but he steeled himself when he saw the glare from Hermione. It was time he start to help his god brother escape those people. “Yes, sir. Harry couldn’t have told Hermione anything since he hasn’t woken up yet.”

“Precisely. Five points to Gryffindor, Mr. Longbottom for actually caring enough about your friend to know about his health.” Neville was too shocked to say anything, but Severus turned towards the other two. “Ms. Granger, I now find myself questioning just how much of what the public knows of Mr. Potters opinions are yours, and not his.

Looking back I can’t seem to remember Mr. Potter ever running his mouth like you about every thought that entered his head. It has always been you or the two youngest Weasleys that ever lecture others on what you claim are Mr. Potters beliefs. I’m sure it is just a coincidence that his opinions seem to be the exact same as your opinions, yet he has never said them himself.

I do question if you are aware that just because you claim Mr. Potter thinks the same doesn’t stop you from being a bigot. It also doesn’t make you very good friends. We shall have to wait for Mr. Potter to wake and return to question him to see if he is as foolish and biased as those who have always claimed to be his best friends. Until such time, I do not want to hear you lying about him again Ms. Granger, he has been through enough, he doesn’t need you making people angry at him by lying about his opinions, yet again.”

Hermione and Ron just stared as the dark robed professor spun on his heels and walked away, his robe billowing behind him dramatically like always. Neither of them could believe how they had just been spoken too. Sure, Harry hadn’t really said most of what they told people he did, but they were sure he would agree with them if he wasn't so pathetic.

Neville couldn’t help but smile slightly. It was good to see someone call those two out for lying like that. He was going to make sure everyone knew that Ron and Hermione were giving their own views, and not Harry’s.

But he knew he wouldn’t have any proof they were truly lying since Harry wasn't there to contradict them, but he would do what he could until Harry returned.


	4. Harry Returns to Hogwarts

In the late evening, three days after the battle in the Ministry, Remus and Sirius were still sitting next to Harry’s bed. The two had barely left his side.

Remus had only left the room for bathroom breaks and to get food in the cafeteria. Sirius had had to leave a few more times. The day before he had had to go and meet with Amelia so she could interrogate him under truth serum just to have the record of it. He had also gone for a full physical with one of the healers once his innocence had been reported and he had hour long mind-healer appointments each day.

The mind-healer had raved about just how stable he was all things considered. He was still going to need help, but he had had the healer specifically enter into his file that he was stable enough to have custody of Harry. There was no way he was going to allow Harry to be taken from him.

He had agreed to him attending two, hour long, mind healer sessions per week for the next year. Sirius had initially not wanted too, but he had been convinced by Remus when he had mentioned the mind-healers recommendation. Remus had pointed out that it would show his willingness to ensure his own mental health, which could be seen as a way to ensure Harry did the same, as well as prove his dedication to his position as guardian.

The hospital usually didn’t allow people to stay as long as Sirius and Remus had, but in this case they had agreed to make an exception. No one wanted to upset Harry, or the spirits of his parents. They also weren’t exactly thrilled with going up against a known werewolf and the only man known to have escaped Azkaban without assistance.

Harry’s healers had even arranged for them to have an ever-warm pot of tea in the room with them along with a cot for Remus since Sirius was sleeping on the foot of Harry’s bed in his dog form. Although both had left the room, it had never been at the same time. There was no way they were going to leave him alone. Not even for a moment.

They had just finished an evening cup of tea and were quietly discussing any new rumours they had heard when they heard a small noise. Looking over they saw that dazed green eyes were slowly blinking up at them.

“Harry!” Sirius was up and grabbing Harry’s hand in an instant. “Are you ok? How do you feel? Do you need anything? Are you in any pain?”

“Sirius, let him breathe.” Remus was just as interested but he wasn't losing his head. The first thing he did was pull the cord next to Harry’s bed to get a healer to come. Then he went to sit at Harry’s other side and gently ran his fingers through his hair.

Before anyone could say anything one of the healers assigned to Harry, Healer Kenwick, rushed into the room. Seeing Harry awake he instantly started running scans.

“How long… Have I… Been…” Harry tried to get out but his throat was sore and dry.

“Here, try this.” Remus took the glass of room temperature water and slowly let Harry sip as Sirius helped to prop him up slightly. “Harry, do you remember what happened?”

Harry thought for a moment before his memory started to return. “We were at the Ministry. Voldemort was there. Mum and dad came to help me.”

“Yes.” Remus nodded sadly, he could see the pain Harry felt. It had to be hard to see the ghosts of his parents only for them to have to leave him.

“How long have I been here?” Harry questioned finally after he managed to push his sadness aside.

“It’s been three days.” Sirius told him.

Harry’s eyes grew comically large as he glanced between Sirius and the healer. “Siri… What are you…?”

Sirius laughed. “It’s fine. They caught the rat at the Ministry. My innocence has been announced. Amelia is going to go through the formalities once she has time. You caused a bit of chaos with what happened.”

“Chaos?” Harry questioned.

“People have finally figured out Voldy had returned.” Remus rolled his eyes. “Your mum and dad told everyone off through the Daily Prophet reporter that was there. Now everyones worried about spending their entire afterlife having to deal with your parents wrath, your mothers in particular. Everyone is clamouring to win your favour. Even The Prophet has been writing stories about how they always believed you and you were a lone voice of truth.

Fudge is as good as out as Minister, the people are calling for his head. All that’s left is the formality of a Wizengamot session to make it official. The next meeting is scheduled for July 1st. Most think Amelia Bones will be the next Minister.

But more than all that, everyone is desperate to know how you are.”

Harry just shrugged, not sure how to handle all that. “And Voldemort? What happened to him?”

Sirius and Remus shared a look before Sirius decided it was his turn to explain. “He tried to possess you. That’s why he turned into smoke. Your magic manifested. That means all your magic left your core and formed up around you and forced him back. He didn’t manage to return to a solid state before your magic dissipated him.

As far as we know, and your parents said, he was once again banished.”

“So he can just return again.” Harry sighed.

“It’s possible, but unlikely.” Remus told him. “Your parents seemed to know how he returned and told Amelia. Since she’s the head of the DMLE right now, and most likely to be the next Minister, she’s in the perfect position to deal with it. So it should be fine.”

Harry gave a relieved sigh.

“Healer Kenwick?” Sirius questioned when the healer finished his scan.

“I have good news. Mr. Potters core is stable and has mostly refilled.” The healer smiled. “I wouldn’t recommend using any great deal of magic for at least a few weeks, preferably the entire summer, to give your core enough time to fully refill. You used a lot of your magic with what you did and nearly completely drained yourself.”

“So I can leave.” Harry perked up slightly.

The healer chuckled, he was used to patients being eager to get out of the healers smothering care. “Yes. But not until morning. I want to do a few final scans, go over your treatment plan, as well as have you speak with a mind-healer before you leave.”

“I don’t need…” Harry started before being interrupted by Sirius.

“Yes you do pup. After everything that has happened you need to talk to someone. You’ve survived multiple murder attempts this year alone.

If it makes you feel any better I have also been seeing a mind-healer and will be doing so for a few hours a week for a while.”

Harry didn’t like anyone thinking he was weak. “But what if they tell…”

“All healers, including mind-healers, are required to take privacy oaths. If they even attempt to tell anyone anything they will be stripped of their magic.” Remus quickly told him.

Harry was still uncomfortable with the idea, but couldn’t bring himself to say no to Remus and Sirius, they looked like they really wanted him to meet with the mind-healer. Instead he just nodded his agreement.

“Wonderful, I can have one of them stop by after you eat your dinner tonight to just do a basic consultation.” Healer Kenwick was pleased Harry’s guardians had found a way to encourage the poor boy to get the help anyone would need without making him feel ashamed or embarrassed as many often did unfortunately.

Harry just settled back in his pillows for a moment. “How are the others?”

“They’re all fine. They went back to Hogwarts yesterday.” Remus smiled.

“And we have some good news.” Sirius grinned happily. “James and Lily came here after they left the Ministry. They managed to heal Frank and Alice Longbottom. I’m not sure if you know this, but Alice was your godmother. She’s been driving the Healers crazy trying to get in here to check on you herself but she wasn't allowed in without your approval. She’ll probably stop by before you get discharged tomorrow.”

Harry was pleased that Neville was getting his parents back. If anyone deserved a chance like that, it was Neville.

* * *

It was just before lunch the next day that Harry finally managed to get out of the hospital. Like Healer Kenwick had said a mind-healer, Healer Tarick, had arrived just as Harry had finished his dinner the night before. Not that he had managed to eat much since his stomach couldn’t handle much after being empty for so long.

Healer Tarick had been pleased with how well Harry had been holding up under all the pressure he had been under, but he still said Harry was going to need help, and Harry for once didn’t deny it. For years Harry had been forced to protect everyone because they never bothered to do it themselves. And that was before the abuse he had endured both during his childhood as well as at school from bullies and most of the teachers choosing to ignore it.

Harry had ended up agreeing to the same treatment schedule as Sirius. He would be at the hospital twice a week for hour long appointments during the summer. Once the next year of school started they would have to work out how they would continue if they needed too, although Harry suspected he wasn't going to be getting out of it that quickly.

Alice and Frank did indeed stop by to see him in the morning. Like him they were being released that day. It was great for Harry to get a chance to talk with his godmother. They hadn’t had much time as they were all sick of being in the hospital and desperate to leave. It had been agreed that they would spend some time together during the summer.

It was going to be Harry’s first summer where he wouldn’t be forced back to the Dursley’s. Only about 20 minutes after he had woken Sirius had announced that he had been granted guardianship over Harry and he would be staying with him no matter what anyone said.

It had even been publicly announced in the paper that morning. There were many that had voiced their opinions about Sirius having custody of their Boy-Who-Lived even in the few hours between the release of the paper and when Harry was getting ready to leave.

One that really annoyed Harry had been a letter from Mrs. Weasley. She had sent a letter to Harry going on about how she didn’t feel that Harry would be safe with Sirius and that she felt that he should just return to his relatives before going and spending the last week of the summer with her and her family. That hadn’t really bothered Harry any more than her usual overbearing nature, plus Remus had told him he didn’t need to listen to her.

What had really irritated him was the howler Sirius had gotten. Molly had gone off on Sirius about how he had no right to try and take Harry from his family and how he wasn't mature enough to look after Harry properly. Harry couldn’t believe that someone who he had once thought so highly of would treat his godfather like that. Sirius was his family, and Molly Weasley had no right to treat him like that. Harry was pretty sure the only thing that could have made him angrier was if she had brought Remus and his condition into it, that would have been way to far for him.

Harry was just to tired to tell her off. He was sick of all the fighting, he just wanted to have some peace.

Sirius, Remus, and Harry had discussed things and had decided that Harry would return to Hogwarts for the last few days of school. They wanted to give Harry a chance to at least pretend normalcy for a little while, as well as have a chance to prove to himself that he could do it.

It would also help for people to see Harry out and about. The Prophet was coming up with all kinds of theories about what might have happened. They weren’t outright lying about anything, but since there had been no public statements they had started to print what some people thought might be going on.

After discussing it Sirius had decided that he was going to see if he would be able to stay at the school for the last few days so that he could be there for Harry. He wasn't sure if it would be allowed, but he was going to try. Remus wanted to stay close to his cub as well, but he already knew there was little to no chance that he, as a werewolf, would be allowed to stay. But he had something else that he needed to do, he was going to find a home for them to live in during the summer, not yet knowing if it was going to be a home already owned by Sirius or Harry’s families or if it was going to be one they needed to buy. Not that it mattered all that much as there was only two a half day before the students were to get on the train to go home and Healer Kenwick had suggested they apparate or floo with Harry as a long train trip, where there were no proper meals, would not be good for his health. They figured they would have to spend a day or two at Grimmauld after the school year ended, but Sirius planned for them to be out of their by the end of the first week at the latest.

They were all surprised that news about Harry being awake hadn’t leaked out. But they had been very cautious with that information.Not even the aurors guarding Harry’s door were told he was awake and they had just assumed those going in were just going to sit next to an unconscious boy.

They even managed to get Harry out of the hospital without any problems. But that was because Dobby had been happy to get Harry his invisibility cloak. As they had walked out Sirius walked in front of Harry while Remus walked behind him and Amelia walked beside him. Boxed in with people on three sides and the wall on the other there was no chance for anyone to bump into Harry.

* * *

They arrived at Hogwarts just as lunch was starting. The last few students in the halls were rushing towards the great hall for food and never really paid them any attention. Harry knew that as soon as the three of them set foot in the great hall that would change and he would have to deal with all the staring and whispers, like so often happened. He hoped they would just be able to slip in, but that was not to be.

There was a small girl in Slytherin robes, Harry thought she was most likely a first year given her size, who walked in just before them. She had only just entered the hall when a red spell came flying at her from the Ravenclaw table.

Harry reacted on instinct and quickly stepped forward in front of the girl and threw up a shield. What truly irritated Harry was that the only ones that showed any evidence of attempting to stop the curse was Snape and two people he didn’t know that were sitting at the head table. None of them had managed to stop the spell, but they were all on their feet with their wands out. But the rest of the staff hadn’t even twitched.

“Who in Merlin’s name cast that curse and why?” Harry demanded. The hall was completely silent, both in shock of Harry shouting and the fact that he was there.

It was a big burly seventh year that stood, not intimidated in the least that Harry Potter was shouting at him. “Do you even know who that is? That’s Pearl Yaxley. Her entire family are death eater scum. Why would you of all people protect someone like that?”

Harry was furious. “And you think you’re any better? Death eaters attacked people because of who their family is. You yourself just said you attacked her because of who her family is. Do you think that makes you any better than them?

Also, the idiots in the Ministry used that exact logic when they imprisoned my godfather for crimes he didn’t commit without ever bothering to give him a trial. They said that because members of his family had been death eaters he had to be guilty. Because of that the real death eater, the one who betrayed my parents and got them killed, was free for almost a decade and a half. He’s the man that returned Voldemort. If anyone had bothered to look past Sirius’s last name and did their blasted jobs all of this could have been avoided.

Despite what people may like to think, we are not our parents. No one is to blame for crimes committed by a member of their family. If we are going to use guilt by association as justification for attacking others then we are all damned.

It is time to move on. He is gone, but that doesn’t mean there is nothing left to do. We have the same chance that our parents and grandparents had at the end of the last war, let’s just hope we can succeed where they failed. When the war ended they had the opportunity to improve our world and promote equality, instead they chose to promote bigotry. Voldemort and his followers may have lost the war, but their ideals were still implemented. Muggleborns are just as discriminated against now as they were then, and the rights of creatures have actually been restricted far more.

Extremism is extremism regardless of which direction you go in. Not everyone with a dark core is evil, just as not everyone with a light core is good. It is our intentions that make magic what it is.

We have a chance to be more than the labels that have been applied to us. There are good and bad people that have come from every house. I am a Gryffindor, but that is not all that I am. Just because Voldemort was in Slytherin when he was in school doesn’t mean every Slytherin is evil. I feel I should point out he was also a prefect and head boy, but that doesn’t mean every prefect or head boy is destined to become evil, and I say this as the son of a former head boy and prefect and head girl.

Whether we want to admit it or not, our parents and grandparents generations failed. They failed to look beyond labels and that bigotry has passed down to us. Attacking someone and taking your own personal issues out on them does not make them see your side of things, all it shows is that you aren’t a very good person. You do not teach someone empathy and compassion by attacking them, you teach them by being empathetic and compassionate towards them. To be a good person, you actually have to be a good person all the time, not just when the mood strikes you.

And I do not exempt myself from that criticism. I am just as guilty of allowing what I have been told about a particular house to colour my view of them before I have even gotten to know anyone from that particular house. But I am going to try and be better. I am going to try and look beyond the colours on our robes and see each and every person as they are from now on.

So for me, from now on, everyone has a blank slate. I don’t care what you have done in the past. I am not going to be your best friend, but I also won’t be your worst enemy. I am going to give every student in the school a fresh start with me. You don’t come after me, and we won’t have any problems.”

“How can you stand there and defend You-Know-Who and his supporters after they killed your parents?” A voice from the Hufflepuff table shouted out.

“Why say you’re giving everyone a fresh start when the only ones that have attacked you are the Slytherins?” A voice shouted from Gryffindor.

“I am not defending Voldemort or the death eaters, all I am saying is that their actions are not the fault of their families, their children in particular. Children can not dictate the actions of their parents, that’s generally not how it works.” Harry shouted back. “And as to the clean slate, it isn’t just for Slytherins. Pretty much every year I have been mocked, attacked, hexed, and cursed by members of every house for some reason or another.

My first year it was because my friends and I lost house points because we were caught out after curfew, something pretty much everyone has done at some point or other, and that I was me. Second year was because everyone decided I was the Heir of Slytherin, and I was me. Third year was actually the best year for the bullying, even if I was mocked for my strong reaction to dementors, but I really don’t think anyone would have reacted better if they were forced to relive their parents murders over and over, and I was me. Fourth year was a complete disaster given that I was forced to participate in the tournament, and I will reiterate again, I DID NOT ENTER, plus I was me so some felt the need to target me for that. And do we even need to talk about what happened this year… According to the Ministry, the Prophet, and over half the student body I was nothing but a mentally unbalanced liar, that might attack everyone without warning, yet suddenly everyone has changed their tune now they know it was all just lies and that Voldemort really was back.

So yes, I have decided to give everyone a blank slate. I mean, if you don’t want one I would be happy to identify all those here right now that have attacked or insulted me during the past few years.”

The hall was silent as none of those that had previously attacked Harry wanted to be publicly named so he continued. “That’s what I thought.

We are the future of our world. Sitting in this hall right now are future ministry workers, future Wizengamot members, future shop keepers, and future teachers. For all we know there could be a future Minister of Magic sitting in this hall. And we can change the world if we are just willing to put in the effort. We can make it so that our children and grand children don’t have to live with all the fear and danger we have if we can just stop hating each other for something that happens when we are 11 years old.

And to be honest, I’m leaving most of the change up to those here in the hall and not myself. To be frank, I’m done. I am done with all the fighting, and danger, and being tortured because of something that happened when I was a toddler. I think I’m going to be taking the next decade off of all the nonsense that happens at least. Who knows, maybe it’s time the adults start to actually do their jobs and deal with the problems going on rather than relying on the kids to fix things.

If Voldemort finds another way to return, I’m leaving it up to the adults. I have done more than my fair share and lost more than most can even begin to comprehend, it is someone else’s turn to fight for a change. Don’t get me wrong, I will never support him or anyone like him, and if anyone comes after me I will respond accordingly, but it is everyone else’s turn to stand and fight for themselves now. Let’s just hope that the adults of this world finally step and and not just resort to throwing an underage kid at their problems in the hopes they will fix it for them.

Although I have my doubts given the shining examples of disinterest that is a majority of the staff here and at the Ministry.”

“Mr. Potter.” Came McGonagall’s sharp rebuke almost instantly, she had returned from the hospital herself just the day before. “There is no need to disrespect your teachers like that. We have always done everything we can to protect you and your fellow students.”

“Have you been huffing potions fumes?” Harry questioned in complete shock before he could get control of his tongue. “You lot just sat there and watched as a seventh year tried to curse a younger year and didn’t even flinch. The only ones that did anything to even try to protect her was Snape, and that may just be because he is her head of house, and those 2 other people up there with you that I’m not exactly sure of who they are. But given the fact they actually tried to help a student I can assume they don’t work here.

I mean really, given my own experiences with the staff of this school can you fault me for not having faith in your care for the students. In my first year we were specifically told that the forbidden forest was forbidden. Then, for my first detention you sent 4 first years forest, at night, because something was killing unicorns and drinking their blood. Because that is just what every 11 year old needs to see, a murdered unicorn.

I honestly can’t think of any of the teachers ever doing much to protect the students, either from danger or each other. For Merlin’s sake, how many students are possibly permanently scarred because protecting your own jobs was more important than protecting the students from being tortured by one of your coworkers. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I personally went to you for help and your only advice was to ‘keep my head down’ like it is perfectly normal for a teacher to torture students.

You are teachers, it is your job to teach. Not just your particular subjects but how to be good human beings. I can’t speak for the other houses, but the only time anyone in Gryffindor sees you is in class, at meals, or if we are in trouble. You said before the sorting in my first year that our house was supposed to be like our family, and I can acknowledge that I have no idea what a normal family is supposed to be like, but surely it is not this.

How can you expect any of your students to be functioning adults that understand rules and how to get along with others if you never bother to teach us? And I can understand that you all have a lot of work, you in particular Professor McGonagall, but if you can’t do all the work your three jobs entail then let someone else step up. If you can’t do the job, you shouldn’t have it.

Now, I’m obviously hungry and getting irritated, plus this isn’t exactly the place to have a conversation like this.” Harry stopped shouting and turned to the young girl that was still standing stock still behind him and spoke softly to her. “Come on. Let’s get you to your table.”

Pearl Yaxley gave a slight nod and Harry escorted her to the far left table. The entire hall seemed to hold their breath as many of the Slytherins from Harry’s year rose to meet them. Draco Malfoy took the lead with Theo Nott and Blaise Zabini a little further back to his left and right. Daphne Greengrass and Pansy Parkinson also rose although they stayed a little further back, although Pansy had tried to go stand next to Draco but been kept back.

Harry walked until he was directly in front of Draco. He kept his face impassive as he looked at the boy who had been his rival for so long. But he couldn’t dredge up any of the old anger he had always felt for him, Harry was just to tired to keep fighting. What surprised him was that although it was clear Draco was angry about what had happened to his father his eyes were just as tired as Harry’s knew his own were.

Harry gave Pearl a slight push and encouraged her to go forward towards her housemates. Daphne opened her arms slightly and Pearl rushed forward into the protection of the older girl. Daphne kept Pearl at her side in-between her and Pansy.

“Did you really mean it?” Draco questioned in a tired voice. Normally he would have tried to say something scathing to wound the other boy, but he had just been released from the hospital wing after he was hit with a cutting curse to his back just as breakfast was ending, he didn’t feel up to fighting just yet. “What you said, about a fresh start.”

Harry gave a small nod before he held out his hand. “Hello, my name is Harry Potter, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Draco looked at the extended hand in a moment of contemplation, he understood the symbolism. Potter was offering him the same thing he had once poorly offered when they were just kids. “Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. The pleasure is all mine.”

Harry smiled slightly and let out a breath in relief. “If you will all excuse me, I am starving for something that isn’t hospital food.” Harry nodded to the others standing there and turned to walk towards the Gryffindor table. Remus and Sirius joining him as he went.

Remus and Sirius had originally been planning to go up to the head table to see about joining them, but after seeing and hearing everything they decided to join Harry at the Gryffindor table. They knew there were probably those that would not react well to everything Harry just said and they were not going to leave him alone. When they reached the Gryffindor table room was made and they sat with Harry in between them.


	5. The Contract

“Harry James Potter!” Hermione snapped in her sharp reprimanding tone as soon as Harry sat down at the table. She was across from him and down a few seats. “How dare you speak like that to everyone.”

Harry just sighed, he just wanted something to eat, not to listen to another of Hermione’s lectures about his manners. “Hermione, I don’t want to hear it right now. I just want to eat in peace.”

Hermione glared daggers at Harry as he served himself some soup but he refused to glance up to give her another opportunity to berate him. Everyone else at the table seemed to be in aw of him, slightly afraid, or both.

“You can’t really…” Ron started but it was muffled through the bite of sandwich he had just taken.

“That was awesome.” Neville cut in, surprising even himself. “It’s time someone said it to everyone.”

“You agree Neville?” Dean questioned.

“Yeah. I was one of those sent into the forest during our first year.” Neville shrugged. “They tell us how dangerous it is and then just send four first years in with Hagrid and no one else. Anything could have happened. That told me everything I needed to know about their concerns for our protection.

And just look at what Umbridge did. They chose to protect their own jobs rather than us. McGonagall even ended up in St. Mungo’s protecting Hagrid's job, but she didn’t lift a finger for us. Tells me where her priorities are.”

Harry gave Neville a small smile. He guessed facing down death eaters and then having his parents healed really had improved the boys confidence. Even a few weeks before he never would have been able to say that much without stuttering. He was bright red at all the attention, but he hadn’t backed down.

“There was nothing they could have done.” Hermione argued.

“Yes, there was.” Remus spoke up then. “If any of the staff members had filed a report with the DMLE they would have been required to investigate. Blood Quills are highly controlled. As they are classed as blood magic they are only legally allowed to be used to sign high level contracts. Using one once on someone else outside of the narrow guidelines is an automatic 1 month in Azkaban.”

Sirius growled slightly over his plate before calming his face and turning to Harry. “Why didn’t you tell us what that… witch was doing to you Harry? You know we never would have let her get away with doing that to you, or anyone.”

“That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you.” Harry mumbled. “I know you two, you would have cursed her senseless. I didn’t want to risk you getting caught because you were protecting me.”

Sirius gave Harry a sideways hug. “I would have been careful, but yes, I would have cursed her into the middle of next year.”

“Why didn’t any of you tell anyone?” Remus questioned the students around him as he placed an arm over Harry’s shoulder in silent support.

The students glanced at each other for a moment until Lavender spoke up. “We knew that Harry had gone to Professor McGonagall. We figured if she wouldn’t help him then what chance did the rest of us have.”

“How did you know it was against the law to use blood quills on people?” Parvati Patil questioned. She might be the Gryffindor twin, but she like knowledge almost as much as her Ravenclaw sister.

“Law class.” Sirius told them, seeing their confused looks he continued. “When we were here there were a lot more electives offered. One of those was a law class. It’s how your dad and I were able to become aurors right out of school.”

“What do you mean?” Harry questioned.

“If any of you want to become aurors you don’t just have to get the grades here, you also have to go through another 2 years of training. Because we had the law classes available we didn’t need to be trained in that. We had 6 months of basic training where we were partnered with an older auror, if they gave us their approval and we could pass the testing then we were aurors.” Sirius told them all.

“Two years of training just to learn laws?” Hermione questioned. “Isn't that a bit much.”

“It isn’t just the laws that the recruits need to learn.” Remus told her. “Our defence classes were also much more expansive. I can tell you that the things I was teaching the 7th years when I was here was things we learned in our 6th, if not 5th years.”

“How are we that far behind?” Hermione was horrified.

“The classes and curriculum have been cut back almost every year.” Remus shrugged before laughing. “I can still remember Lily’s reaction in our final year.”

“What did she do?” Harry questioned eagerly. He loved any information about his parents.

Sirius chuckled with Remus. “Your mum was considered a prodigy in charms, but that wasn't what she wanted to do with her life. Your mum wanted to be a healer. Your mums mum was a muggle nurse, and your dads mum was also a healer, so she had both of them there to encourage her.

When we were in school there was an apprenticeship program. Each weekend the students in that program would go and work with masters in whatever field it was they had chosen. Your mum spent 10 hours each week at St. Mungo’s working. Mostly she just shadowed a qualified healer, but she also got lessons from them in how to cast diagnostics and heal basic injuries.

But the program was cancelled in our final year. Your mum was furious. She sent howlers to every member of staff and the school governors. Dumbledore personally had to go and speak with her to get her to stop, I don’t know exactly what was said, but it didn’t cool her temper any. I’m sure you all know of the headmasters fondness for lemon… Well, after our first night he found himself cursed so he couldn’t consume anything with citrus for an entire month.”

“You can do that?” Seamus questioned as he laughed.

“Up until that moment I had no idea you could.” Sirius smiled. “The spell crafting class had been cancelled in our third year, but Lily had managed to get her hands on the books and dabbled in it a little.

Lily-Flower always had a temper. Actually, it’s a lot like yours Harry.”

“I don’t have a temper.” Harry said.

Remus laughed. “Harry, you just yelled at everyone in the great hall.”

“You took out Bellatrix Lestrange and then V…V…Voldemort because Bellatrix tried to kill your godfather.” Neville added.

Harry looked bashful and grumbled into his soup.

“Face it pup, you got your mums temper.” Sirius ruffled his hair. “Your mum was the sweetest, most kind person you could ever meet… Until you got on her bad side. Then her temper would come out.”

“And you ran and hid?” Neville joked, thinking of his mums own temper from what he had seen while they were in the hospital.

“Thinking about your mums temper?” Remus seemed to read the shy boys mind. “Yeah, you could avoid the worst of your mums temper by just staying out of her way for a while. She was always quicker to calm, but she was also quicker to anger.”

“But with Lily running and hiding was the worst thing you could do.” Sirius faked a shiver of fear, although even after all these years he was still fearful of Lily’s temper. “No, she would hunt you down like a rabid animal. The only thing that would calm Lily down was letting her let her temper out. The longer it took her to find you the more her anger would build.

Your dad used to call her Tiger Lily when she was in a mood. The only thing to do when Lily was out for your blood was shelter in place. Just let her get it all out. And if she ever asked a question, you answered in simple yes or no fashion, although it was always better to just agree to whatever she said, because if you said anything else it was going to be wrong, or at least, I always said the wrong thing and that would just extend the lecture and punishment.”

“What could she possibly have done to you?” Hermione scoffed. She had been forced to be around the man enough over the summer that she knew there was next to nothing that could make him behave.

Sirius just grumbled but refused to answer.

Remus was on his guard, there had always been something in the scent of Harry’s friends that he didn’t trust, not that he could say anything since he had never caught on to Wormtail’s betrayal. “Let’s see. There was the time she stuck him to the roof of the tower during a thunderstorm…”

“That was actually pretty cool other than the rain.” Sirius muttered.

“…The time she put his bed, with him still in it, out in the middle of the lake, he got woken up by the squid poking him. Cursed him to be every colour you can imagine, and some no one ever considered before. Cursed him bald, repeatedly, even using a full body plucking charm once. But I think my personal favourite was…”

“Don’t you dare.” Sirius growled as the kids around them giggled.

Remus paid him no mind and carried on without pause. “… The time she changed his clothes into baby clothes and used a spanking charm to make him run all the way around this very room during the leaving feast of our fifth year. But apparently all of her lessons were wasted on your thick skull.”

Sirius glare/pouted at his best friend. The only good thing to him was seeing how Harry was laughing at his mums antics.

Sirius and Remus spent the rest of lunch regaling the students with stories about their own time at Hogwarts. This served the purpose of making sure no one could start questioning Harry about what had happened at the ministry or why he had yelled at the teachers, and it also allowed Harry to hear more stories about his parents. Harry knew what they had been doing and was grateful for it.

While they had talked and laughed Remus had received a note from Dumbledore requesting, although it was worded more as a demand, for the three of them to meet him in his office after lunch. Remus had silently wrote his agreement and sent the note back, he knew there was no way to avoid the coming argument.

Just as lunch was finishing the Headmaster stood up and gave a speech welcoming Harry back after his stay in the hospital following his ‘assistance’ with the Voldemort ‘problem’.

* * *

Harry wanted to go up to his dorm right after lunch so he could quickly shower the smell of hospital off. The smell of antiseptic was nauseating. He also needed to get a change of clothes. For some reason none of them had thought to get Dobby to grab Harry a change of clothes when he had gotten his invisibility cloak. It was for that reason Harry was dressed in a shrunken outfit of Remus’s.

Sirius had sent off a message to Dumbledore explaining about Harry taking a shower and pushed their meeting back by a bit. He knew how Dumbledore felt about how people needed to comply to his schedule and rarely agreed to change to meet anothers needs, so he was surprised when he got a note back not just agreeing, but also pushing the meeting back even further.

In all, Harry, Remus, and Sirius didn’t end up making their way up to the Headmasters office until just after 4:30.

“Come in my boys.” Albus called when he heard the knock on his door.

“You wished to see us Albus.” Sirius said as they took a seat, all three denying the offer of lemon drops.

“Yes, yes.” Albus faked a grandfatherly smile. “There were just a few things we need to discuss. I first wanted to congratulate Harry for stopping Voldemort again. But we mustn’t grow complacent. We may have peace for a time, but there is no guarantee.

But that leads to our next topic of discussion. I saw the article about you being granted Harry’s custody Sirius. As you well know Harry was placed with his Aunt and Uncle for his own safety, as well as theres. Those protections are important, now more than ever.”

“I’m going to stop you right there Albus.” Sirius held up a hand. “Harry will never be going back to those people.”

“Come now Sirius, they are his family.” Albus couldn’t believe this man was arguing with him, after everything he had done for him…

“They may share blood, but they are not his family.” Sirius growled at just the thought of those people. “I have Harry’s custody, and he will be staying with me.”

“I don’t think Grimmauld Place is the best place for a growing boy.” Albus started.

“I quite agree.” Sirius smiled. “After talking about it we have a few options. Neither Remus or I are very comfortable with leaving Harry alone right now, he is still recovering after all. I was hoping that I would be able to use one of the guest quarters here so I can remain close. I bumped into a few of the ICW representativesafter lunch and they told me it was fine with them so long as I got your approval.

But if not then that is acceptable. I will just join Remus in finding a home for us to stay in. We already have a few properties on the short list and they will be ready for us to move in immediately. I will be here before the train arrives to collect Harry.”

Albus blinked a few times trying to process that information. This man thought he was going to just get to stay in his school to be close to his weapon. The boy belonged to him, not anyone else. He couldn’t allow this man to undo any of the conditioning he had put the boy through. He had worked long an hard to get him to be what he was. Albus wasn't about to let anyone else gain control over him.

But that was just another problem. He was going to need to find a way to regain custody of the boy. But again, he needed a proper Minister in place to do so, and if Amelia Bones won like many thought that would be almost impossible. He was going to have to consider using the Wizengamot, but again, he would need to retain his position of Chief Warlock first and that could take until the end of the summer, and that defeated the purpose of Harry’s placement. He needed the Dursley’s to break the boy down over the summer.

There had been a few government meetings, that they hadn’t even bothered to tell him about, and it had been decided that the next Wizengamot meeting would be just about nominating a new Minister. The vote would be held at the end of the summer. Albus wouldn’t have a chance to regain his position of Chief Warlock until the new Minister was sworn in.

But if he refused to allow him to stay at the school he would just be making arrangements for a new home. As bad as Grimmauld was at least he knew where it was and had at least limited control of the wards.

“Arranging a home isn’t cheap.” Albus finally managed to force out.

“Not to worry, I wrote to Gringotts.” Sirius could see just how flustered the Headmaster was getting. “I am the last male Black from the main line. Even if my parents disowned me I am still the only one that can claim the position of Head of Family. All I have to do is go to the bank and I will have full access to the Black vaults and properties.”

Albus wanted to grind his teeth. If things had worked the way he planned Sirius would be dead and all that money and power would belong to Harry, not that he would tell the boy. No, it wouldn’t be good for the boy to become arrogant like so many of the others from rich families. The boy needed to be humble so Albus would manage the money and give him what he felt he needed.

But then he noticed something else that had previously been said. “What do you mean you will be here before the train arrives? Harry will be taking the train home like everyone else.” Albus was going to need to get Hermione and Ron to re-administer the potions the boy had previously been on to make him more malleable. St. Mungo’s must have cleansed his system and that was why he was being so difficult.

Remus pulled out the note from Healer Kenwick. “Harry’s healer doesn’t want Harry to take the train. He said it could actually slow down his recovery since there aren’t any proper meals served and he would be restricted in his movements for hours. He told us it would be best for Harry if we flooed or apparated him home.”

Albus took the note with numb fingers, these fools seemed to have an answer for everything, but the boy might not. “And just what do you think Harry. I notice you haven’t had anything to say. I know you know about the wards around your family. Surely you wouldn’t want to endanger them by letting them fall? They are the last of your family.”

Harry glanced at the three men in the office. “I would rather stay with Sirius and Remus. Like Siri said, the Dursley’s were never my family, they made sure I knew that.”

“I’m sure it’s just a slight misunderstanding my boy.” Albus twinkled, he needed the boy to agree to go back there.

“He’s told you his opinion Albus, accept it.” Sirius said before Harry could be pressured into doing anything he didn’t want too.

Albus forced a smile knowing he wasn't in a position to stop anything yet. “Another thing we need to address was your behaviour in the great hall this afternoon Harry.” Albus made his face look disappointed when he was really furious with the boys actions.

Harry blushed. “Yeah, sorry. I was just hungry and angry. I regret acting like I did, but I don’t take back anything I said. I don’t care who a persons family is, it is no reason to attack them, especially when they are so young.”

Albus didn’t like the changes the boy was already displaying. The potions and spells he had previously had on him made it almost impossible for the boy to form any opinion that wasn't spoon fed to him by himself or his pawns. The lack of potions could be explained by being cleansed in the hospital, but that didn’t explain why the spells weren’t still in effect. The las thing he needed was for people to start accepting the Slytherins, those dark pure-bloods needed to learn their place.

“Come now Harry…”

“Albus.” Remus admonished. “A seventh year attempted to curse a girl I strongly believe was in her first year and he would have been successful if not for Harry. There is no excuse for behaviour like that. And the fact that only one member of staff even showed any reaction is not acceptable. Are you even going to punish that boy for his actions?”

“He did not do anything.” Albus equivocated. “If he had hurt her then yes, he would have been punished, but as she is fine my hands are tied. They are just children, they need to learn how to solve their own problems from time to time.”

“By that logic attempted murder isn’t a crime.” Harry muttered.

Sirius chuckled at Harry’s response before giving the headmaster a quizzical look. “Unless the rules have changed, that isn’t how it is supposed to work. I remember we used to get detention for the pranks we got caught with, whether they worked or not. And that boy was a seventh year, he is no longer a child. The girl he attacked is, but he isn't. He could have been charged with assault if we weren’t in the school.”

“But we are in the school…” Albus said. “But I feel we are getting off course. Harry’s behaviour was unacceptable. While I can understand that he was hungry and appreciate his apology there still needs to be consequences. So, 5 points from Gryffindor Harry, for yelling in the great hall.”

Harry just shrugged, he really didn’t care.

“So Harry has to face consequences but the adult that attacked a child doesn’t?” Sirius said sarcastically.

Albus just brushed over Sirius’s sarcasm and carried on. They talked in circles for a bit longer until Albus finally gave in. Sirius would be allowed to stay at the school in one of the guests quarters, but Harry would be staying in the Gryffindor dorms. And Sirius and Harry would be going to the Hogsmeade train station with the other students, but Sirius would be apparating them away rather than getting on the train.

Harry barely said a word during the discussion, just content to allow someone to speak in his defence. It was nice to have others there to defend him and stop him from being forced to do anything he didn’t want to do. He had never had that before Sirius and Remus.

Albus slowly grew more irritated as time ticked by. He had arranged with Molly for her to arrive at 4:45, but she was late. Albus knew Molly always ran a little late but as 5 o’clock arrived and he was still waiting his irritation was becoming hard to hide.

He couldn’t let the fools leave with the boy without having them meet with Molly. Maybe the womans overbearing nature would be enough to force them into giving at least a few concessions. Molly had never been one to accept no for an answer. It was that stubborn streak that had gotten her married and 7 children, she had really wanted a girl.

Finally, 5 minutes after 5 the floo flared green and a flustered Molly stepped through. Albus saw just what had her so flustered, and late, as an irritated Arthur came through right behind her.

“Harry!” Molly squealed, reminding Harry greatly of Ginny, before she rushed forward and pulled him into a bone crushing hug.

Harry didn’t miss how she tried to remove him from his place between Remus and Sirius. He was not allowing that to happen and quickly retook his seat between the two as soon as she let go.

“Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley.” Harry greeted.

Molly instantly turned to Sirius as soon as Harry had pulled away. “Sirius Black, what were you thinking? Taking Harry away from his family like that. You are not mature enough to handle the responsibility of a child…”

“Molly, enough.” Arthur sighed, it was obvious from his tone this was not the first time he had heard her rant on this subject.

“Regardless of your opinion Molly, Harry is mine.” Sirius said coldly. “While I am grateful for the few weeks you have looked after him in the past years you are not his parent nor are you his guardian, I am. I have spoken with Harry about it and he has chosen to live with me, not the Dursley’s. And no one is going to force him back there.”

“I’m glad for you and Harry.” Arthur smiled kindly, completely ignoring the stunned and angry look on his wife’s face.

“Thank you Arthur.” Sirius had always liked the kind man, he just couldn’t understand why he was with a harpy like Molly, but love generally wasn't logical. “But I don’t really understand what it is that brings the two of you here.”

“That is another thing I felt we would need to discuss.” Albus smiled merrily as he summoned two extra chairs for Molly and Arthur. He was less than pleased to have Arthur there, but knew there was nothing he could do to get rid of him that wouldn’t draw too much attention. “Now that Harry has the fame from once again helping to free our world from Voldemort, no matter how temporary, there will be those looking to take advantage of him. We must do everything we can to protect him.”

“And we will protect Harry.” Remus said. “But that doesn’t explain why Molly and Arthur are here.”

Albus took a deep breath to keep from snapping at the wolf for interrupting him, it was like these fools had forgotten just who he was. “I was thinking about how James was protected as a boy with a marriage contract and I think it might be best if we create one for Harry. I discussed it with Molly and she agreed to the idea of using Ginny as it would also serve to protect her.

I already wrote up a basic outline. It will be breakable once they come of age, but it will serve to protect him until such a time. The last thing young Harry needs is someone finding an old contract for any of the Potter family.”

“M…Marriage?” Harry stuttered out in shock, clear horror on his face. “To… To… G… Ginny? But I’m only 15.”

Sirius laughed at the look on his godsons face. “A marriage contract is just a legal document that states you will marry once you are both of age. Many old families still use them. But I’m not sure…”

“That’s how I feel too.” Arthur spoke up having seen the look on Molly and the Headmasters faces. “I’ve never been a fan of marriage contracts, and I’m not sure if it’s the best way to protect the kids. Anything could happen and I wouldn’t want either of them forced into a loveless marriage if they are ill suited.”

“Nonsense Arthur.” Molly brushed her husbands worries aside, she and Ginny had been planning for this for years. Molly and Albus had discussed the contract just the night before. They had agreed that the contract they would have everyone sign would be an absolute contract hidden under a glamour. She knew Arthur would be unhappy once he learned about it but she was sure she would be able to calm him down once he understood how it was going to get their baby girl, and them, the lives they had always wanted and deserved.

She could just say they hadn’t realized the way the contract was specifically worded when it came to the dates. Albus had been telling the truth, the contract stated the children could cancel the contract once they both came of age, but the clause stating when the wedding had to be said by Yule of Harry’s 17th year. Molly knew Ginny would still be classed as underage, being only 16 herself, but so long as she had the permission of her parents, which she would once they signed the contract, the marriage would be able to go ahead as planned. Although there was an out clause written in, it was invalid since they would already be married, and marriage was forever in the magical world, there was no such thing as divorce, and if the marriage was through contract they couldn’t even separate unless it was in the contract, which Molly had ensured it wasn't.

The contract she and Albus had agreed on would give Ginny the life she deserved. Ginny would have complete control of all estates and vaults that belonged to Harry or his family. Albus would be in charge of the voting proxies as well as managing the publicity around Harry until he passed and then that responsibility would pass to her. Like Ginny had requested a fidelity clause was added for Harry but she would be free to enjoy her life so long as she was discreet. The only requirement Ginny would have to meet was that they would have to have at least three children. But one thing that Molly really liked was that Harry would be required to pay a bride price of 10 million galleons specifically to her, she loved her husband, but he just wasn't responsible enough to handle that kind of money.

“Molly is right Arthur.” Albus twinkled merrily at the man, using compulsions to try and soothe him. “I’m sure if Harry and Ginny just spent some time together without all the interruptions and pressure of school life they would find deep feelings for each other. After all, Harry is his fathers son and Ginny is very much like Lily.

But that is neither here nor there right now. This is just about protecting the two of them for the time being.”

Harry couldn’t help but flinch slightly at the mention of his parents but was looking for any excuse he could not to have to sign anything saying he would marry Ginny, ever. “But I thought Ginny had a boyfriend? That would be really awkward.”

“What ever gave you the idea that Ginny would have a boyfriend, she is still to young to date.” Molly knew Ginny had been seeing a few different boys, but she had thought the girl had been discreet.

“I think it was mainly her screaming in the middle of the common room earlier in the year at the twins because they had had, what they called, the ‘good little wizards talk’ with her boyfriend.” Harry still smiled at the memory, the twins hadn’t even blinked at their furious sister.

Arthur smiled, pleased Fred and George had been looking after their little sister, even if it did infuriate his daughter. Looking at Harry he knew the boy didn’t want this despite what Molly had said about his secret crush on their daughter. Both Molly and Ginny had often hinted at a secret relationship to him and a few Order members during the previous summer, but he had never truly believed them.

He had seen how Harry acted and how he said certain things like he was mimicking others and had practiced it. Charlie had done the same thing when he had just become a teen. It had taken a while, but eventually Charlie had come to them and admitted that he was gay. Molly hadn’t exactly been thrilled since she had already been picking out girls she thought he might fit with, but had quickly come around. Being gay was perfectly normal in the magical world.

Arthur was sure that once Harry was able to think about anything other than fighting for his life he too would realize he was gay. It just might be a little harder for him since he had grown up in the muggle world and Arthur knew how some muggles felt about same-sex relationships, it was one of the few things he didn’t like about the muggle world. He thought that it might be a good idea to maybe talk to Charlie and see about him talking with Harry to reassure him it was perfectly normal, he knew Charlie thought Harry was a good kid and would be happy to help out, but he might need to wait for a bit.

“I’m sure it was all just blown out of proportion.” Albus wanted to glare at Molly, she was supposed to have kept control of the girl. “But that isn’t what this is about, this is about protection.”

“My… My dad had a contract like this?” Harry questioned.

Remus could smell the absolute terror coming off Harry and that decided it for him, there was no way that contract was being signed. “Kind of. What your dad had was a betrothal contract with the option of a marriage contract. The difference is a betrothal contract sets terms for an engagement and a marriage contract sets terms for the marriage itself. A marriage contract is simply a lot stronger than a betrothal contract. Butjust because your dad had one doesn’t mean you have too.”

“Your grandparents created one shortly before he started school.” Sirius smiled, he didn’t need Remus’s sense of smell to know how his godson felt, and he wasn't going to do anything he didn’t want him too. “Your grandparents were elderly when your dad was born so your grandad went to an old friend of his just in case he and your gran passed before your dad came of age.

Your grandad served as Ambassador to Italy for over a decade before your dad was born. While there he and your gran made friends. A few years later two of those friends, and their young daughter, came here when he was posted as Italy’s Ambassador to Britain. They were from an old powerful and wealthy family and didn’t want to take any risks of their daughter being forced into a marriage while she was here.

They signed a contract that basically said the two were engaged from the time they were 11 until they were both 17. It didn’t give a specific date for a wedding and said they could cancel it once they were of age. Like most betrothal or marriage contracts it said they had to spend a certain amount of time together each week, and had to give each other gifts on holidays and birthday, but other than that it was up to them.

They both knew from the very beginning they probably weren’t going to stay together, but they still did become friends. She used to tell your dad all the things he was doing wrong when asking your mum out. Once they were both of age they canceled the contract. She even came to your parents wedding.”

“Is she back in Italy now?” Harry questioned, wondering if he might get a chance to speak with a woman that had apparently been engaged to his father.

“No, she’s actually here at the school right now. Although I’m not exactly sure why.” Remus told him. “Her name is Elora Zabini. She was the really beautiful woman with the long dark hair that tried to stop Mr. Marshall from hexing that little girl. Her son Blaise is in your year in Slytherin.”

“Oh, maybe I can talk to her.” Harry said. “She might have a different perspective on dad than you guys have.”

Sirius was happy to get them off the topic of Harry being contracted to Ginny. “I’ll talk with her about it. She’s one of the ICW reps here so she will probably be here for a while.”

Molly cleared her throat in agitation. She still couldn’t believe that the Potters had been so foolish as to actually contract James to such a dark woman, everyone knew she killed her husbands, even if no one could prove it. At least James had seen sense and married a nice girl like Lily. “That’s nice and all, but we need to sign this contract so we can all go and get dinner.”

“We haven’t agreed to anything.” Sirius quickly said seeing the dread return to Harry’s face.

“I think the ones we would need to ask are Ginny and Harry.” Arthur announced. “So what do you think Harry?”

“I…” Harry couldn’t bring himself to look at Mr. Weasley, he was a really nice guy, and he really liked being welcome at The Burrow, but he also really didn’t want to be engaged to Ginny, even if he didn’t have to marry her. “Ginny’s ok and all but… I really don’t want…”

Arthur smiled at the embarrassed teenager, not missing the burning red flush on his cheeks. “And that’s fine Harry. Getting engaged, even if only temporarily, is not something to be taken lightly. You should never be flippant about signing anything so important.

I have absolutely no intention of signing anything for you and Ginny unless you are both fully in agreement. It wouldn’t be fair to either of you to do something like that.”

“Arthur!” Molly said in shock. She had been less than pleased when he had arrived home early and caught her before she could leave. When she had told him where she was going and why, she hadn’t seen a reason not too since she never thought he would stand in the way of their daughters dreams, he had insisted on going with her. And now he was doing exactly what she hadn’t thought he would ever do, he was denying their daughter the perfect life with all the fame and money she could ever dream of.

“No Molly.” Arthur said sternly. He knew that Molly had always wanted Harry to get together with Ginny, but he was not going to force anything on that sweet boy. “If Harry isn’t sure it’s what he wants no one is going to force him into it.”

“I am in agreement with Arthur.” Sirius quickly said. “You can’t just dump something like this on us and expect us to sign a contract without even having time to properly go over it. But more than that I will not be signing anything without Harry’s full and complete support.”

“But you must.” Molly sputtered out. “The children need to be protected. The last thing Harry needs is to be forced into marrying some greedy girl that just wants him for his fame. This contract will stop anyone from being able to convince you to sign a different contract.”

“I will not be signing any contract, so it is a moot point.” Sirius pointed out.

“Molly, I think it is time we go home.” Arthur stood and took hold of his wife’s arm.

“And It’s almost dinner so we should get going too.” Remus copied Arthur’s stance. “Come on Harry, you need to get a proper meal.”

“It was nice to see you both.” Harry gave Arthur a grateful smile before turning to leave.

“We will see you in the great hall Headmaster.” Sirius gave Albus a cold smile, annoyed by what the man had just tried to pull.

Albus just sat at his desk and blinked uncomprehendingly for a few moments after his office was empty. How had things gone so off course? It had been such a simple plan. Call Potter and Black up to his office. Get them to sign the marriage contract.

That was it.

But nothing had gone the way he wanted. He couldn’t believe even Arthur had opposed him. Arthur usually just did as he was told, when had that man grown a spine? He was going to have to get Molly to force him into compliance with his plan.

He needed to regain his control, now more than ever.

The boy was already growing too confident. Having Black and Lupin there encouraging him to think for himself all summer was going to be difficult, if not impossible, to counter. If they had just signed the contract he created it would get the boy back under his control. He had specifically put in there that Harry would be required to live wherever he decided, he would have sent him back to the Dursley’s every summer, and most likely holidays, until he graduated, and then he would move into Potter Manor with Ginny.

Albus popped a lemon drop in his mouth and got ready to go down for dinner. He was going to need to think of something. Maybe he could get the Dursley’s to demand the return of their nephew through the courts.


	6. End of the School Year

Remus had left after dinner to start getting ready for the summer. Harry had spent the night in the dorms like planned, but he hadn’t really liked it. Everyone just kept staring at him while Ron, Hermione, and Ginny tried to make him feel bad about shouting at the teachers.

He had ended up just telling them he was tired to try and escape, plus he actually really was tired. He knew that had to do with the fact he had cast that shield charm even though he wasn't supposed to be doing magic yet. He ended up having to do even more magic since they had followed him and he sealed and silenced his bed curtains just to block them out.

That had just led to even more lectures as they went down to breakfast the next morning. Harry just forced himself to stay silent and try and block them out until he could reach Sirius.

* * *

Sirius raised an eyebrow at seeing the pained grimace on Harry’s face when he came into the great hall with his three friends buzzing around him, clearly annoying him. He was glad to see Neville Longbottom walking calmly next to him keeping Hermione slightly away. Sirius knew the girl had a tendency to hit when vexed.

“Good morning Harry.” Sirius smiled as Harry sat down next to him, Neville quickly sitting on Harry’s other side to keep Ron away. Hermione and Ginny had gone to the other side of the table.

“… Are you even listening to me?” Hermione huffed after another 5 minutes of ranting.

“No.” Harry shook his head and went back to his eggs.

Hermione’s eyes grew huge before narrowing to slits in outrage. “What is wrong with you? Just because you are famous does not mean you can treat us like this.”

“Hermione enough.” Harry finally snapped when he heard the fame comment. “I am not doing anything because of some ‘fame’ you clearly care about so much. You have done nothing but rant at me and scold me since I arrived last night. You haven’t even taken a break long enough to ask me if I’m ok. Which, I am, by the way.

Despite what you seem to think, you are not my mother. You do not get to dictate how I speak or what I say. Yes, I have admitted I was rude for shouting yesterday and have already apologized to the Headmaster for it, but I do not take back a single thing I said. The staffs disregard for our safety is blatantly clear.

I do not care about your opinion on my decision to give everyone a clean slate, that was my decision, not yours. You can hold onto all the old grudges you want, but I will not be joining you in that. All I want, is a chance to eat my breakfast in peace. We only have until tomorrow before you guys get on the train, let’s try and enjoy it.”

“What do you mean when we get on the train?” Ginny questioned irritatedly, she needed to use those hours to get closer to him. Her mum had already written to her the night before about him rejecting the marriage contract. She had been furious when she got that letter and Hermione had forced her to drink a calming draft before they went to the common room to go to breakfast.

She had already had to break up with Dean for him, and now he wasn't even going to spend the train ride with her. Her mum had sent her a basic lust potion to give him so he would spend the summer thinking of her, she would be able to give him the full love potion once they returned. Once that was in his system there would be no difficulty in getting him to convince Sirius to sign the contract.

“My healer said it wasn't healthy for me to spend so long on the train. We discussed it in the Headmasters office yesterday. Sirius and I will be going to the station with the rest of you, but then he will be apparating me away.” Harry said, not noticing the irritation on her face as he was too focused on his food.

“Where are you going mate?” Ron questioned around the whole sausage in his mouth.

Harry just shrugged, not completely sure himself.

Hermione crossed her arms and glared. “Well, where are you going?”

“He will be coming with me, and that is all you need to know.” Sirius jumped in. He had seen the looks the three had been sharing and it unsettled him  
“But surely your Aunt and Uncle won’t want you to be home late.” Hermione said bossily. “It would be rude to keep them waiting. Just take the train with us and they can pick you up like usual.”

“As Harry said, his healer said he was not to ride the train.” Sirius interjected. “Despite what you might think Hermione, Harry will be following the instructions of his healer, and not your demands. And, Harry will not be keeping the Dursley’s waiting as he will not be living with them, I am his godfather and I have his custody. Harry will be spending his summer with me.”

Ron was confused. “But he has to go to the Dursley’s, it’s his home.”

“No, he doesn’t. He will be living with me from now on, as he always should have been.” Sirius told them.

Before they could say anything else the hall was flooded with a stream of owls. Harry was surprised when two landed in front of him and Neville. Harry put down his cutlery to take the note the owl in front of him carried, handing the owl some bacon as he did. He was just about to break the seal and open it when it was snatched from his hand.

Sirius was stunned to see Hermione reaching across the table and taking Harry’s letter without a word, it was like it was the most normal action in the world to her. He didn’t hesitate and quickly summoned the note back and gave it back to Harry.

“Hey!” Hermione snapped.

“That is not your letter, it is Harry’s. If he want’s you to know what it says then he will tell you, if not, then it is none of your business.” Sirius snapped back. “That is one thing the law class would have taught you, tampering with anothers mail is a crime. You can be fined a minimum of 10 galleons for taking someone else’s mail.”

Harry just ignored Sirius telling Hermione off, pleased someone finally was, she was always taking his mail from him. He instead opened the note and was surprised to see it was a request from Professor Snape to meet with him after breakfast.

Looking over he saw Neville was just as confused. Without saying a word they exchanged notes and saw they had gotten the same thing. Both boys just shrugged and went back to their food as they tucked the notes away.

“Well?” Ginny demanded, knowing that if Hermione said anything Sirius would just get angry at her.

“It’s nothing that concerns you.” Neville said. “It’s just about a meeting for the two of us after breakfast.”

“Why? With who?” Ginny huffed.

“It is not any of your business.” Neville said in a soft, yet slightly cold, tone. “If you needed to be involved you would have gotten a note as well.”

Harry saw the wary look on Sirius’s face and passed over his note. Sirius looked it over but didn’t say anything. He figured this had something to do with whatever Lily had said to the man.

All of a sudden Harry noticed all the whispers and stares he was getting. Although everyone had been doing that before, now it seemed like more than that. He got his answer when Katie Bell passed down her copy of The Prophet.

Harry sighed as he saw that the speech he had given last night was emblazoned on the front page nearly word for word. The only thing that was missing was what he had said about The Prophet itself lying about him. Looking over the story he was annoyed that Skeeter had managed to get into the school and copy everything down yet again, but at least she hadn’t portrayed him to be a whining child or a baby dark lord. The article was practically supportive of him for defending a child and calling out peoples bigotry. Harry just figured it was because Rita herself had been a Slytherin.

Choosing to ignore the paper he handed it back and went back to his food.

* * *

Harry was annoyed as he and Neville arrived outside of Snape’s office door. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny had all followed them down.

“Why are we outside the dungeon bats office?” Ron questioned, disgust clear in his tone, as Harry knocked.

“Because he asked to meet with _Harry_ and _I_. You are here because you followed us.” Neville sighed in aggravation.

Snape opened the door with his usual flourish, glaring at the three extra students. “I asked to see Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Potter, not you three. What are you doing here?”

“We came with Harry.” Hermione said in a prissy voice.

“No, you followed me, uninvited.” Harry growled. He didn’t understand why the three of them were acting like they were. Hermione had always been slightly overbearing, but it had never been this bad, or at least he hadn’t noticed. Ron always tagged along and voiced his opinion on anyone in Slytherin, so there really wasn't a difference with him, but Harry was finding it more annoying. And He couldn’t understand Ginny since the only time she was with them was during the summer normally.

“Mr. Longbottom, Mr. Potter, in. You three, leave.” Snape snapped, slamming the door in their faces when they tried to follow the other two in.

“You wanted to see us Professor?” Harry asked. He could see how white Neville was, his friend still obviously feared their potions teacher.

Severus visibly relaxed. It was the first time either ever saw him act even slightly human.

“Yes, I did. I wanted to offer you both my sincere apologies.”

Harry gaped for a moment.

“Why?” Neville questioned in shock.

Severus let his lips twitch in a slight smile, Longbottom was finally starting to really show why he had been sorted into the house of the bold. “As Mr. Potter knows, I have worked as a spy for years. There were certain people that watched everything I did and if I had shown either of you even an ounce of kindness it could have cost me not just my position, but my life as well.”

Severus knew he was playing it up slightly, but it really wasn't that far from the truth. If anyone had caught him being kind to any on the light side he would have been in serious trouble.

“Why would anyone care if you were nice to us?” Neville questioned in confusion.

Severus reached into his desk and passed over a picture to each of them.

“This is my mum!” Neville said in shock as he looked at an old picture of his mum sitting down by the lake with Lily and Professor Snape.

Harry just silently looked down at a photo of his mum smiling with her arms around his surly Professor, although in the photo they looked like they were just kids.

“Yes Mr. Longbottom, that is your mum. And Mr. Potters mum. And myself.” Severus said. “Lily and I grew up in the same town. I was actually the one that told her she was a witch when I first met her in the local park making a flower levitate. We were best friends from the time we were 8.

When we started school Lily became friends with your mum Mr. Longbottom and Alice joined the two of us. The three of us were all close friends through most of our Hogwarts education.

The war was just taking a darker turn and it was hard for us to maintain our friendships since I was in Slytherin and they were in Gryffindor. Things fell apart at the end of our fifth year, but I always still cared about them both. A few others in my house noticed that although we were distant I never insulted them like others did and commented on it often. It was made very clear to me where my loyalties were expected to lay and the consequences if I did anything. But I still did what I could to help them.

I was the one that brought the information to your families that they were being targeted, it was why they went into hiding. Again, I tried, but in the end I failed them.” There was true pain in Severus’s voice as he thought of what had happened to his childhood friends. “When the two of you started here I wanted to reach out to you and tell you about what your mothers had been like, but I couldn’t risk it.

I’m not sure if you are aware Mr. Longbottom, I know Mr. Potter is, but during your first year Professor Quirrell was being possessed by V…Voldemort.” Severus struggled saying the name after so long of it causing him pain.

Neville glanced at Harry for conformation, going white as a sheet when Harry nodded.

“I could not risk my position as it would have put the both of you in danger as well so I made sure people saw me being cruel to the both of you. And for that I am truly sorry.

I have already gone to see your parents Mr. Longbottom and explained my actions. Your mother was less than pleased, but she understood my motivation. I wish to offer you both repayment for the harm my behaviour caused you both. My cruelty ruined potions for the two of you for years, so I would like to offer proper lessons to you both over the summer to teach you both properly. And I will inform you that as part of my punishment from Alice I will be attending those lessons in outfits that she personally will pick out for me.” Severus grumbled the last part as his cheeks went lightly pink.

Harry smiled. He had really wanted to enjoy potions, and this just might be his chance. “I would like the lessons sir, but only if you bring me more pictures of my mum. Hagrid gave me a photo album of my parents, but there aren’t really any of my mum when she was younger.”

Severus smiled and nodded, pleased he was getting a chance to make it up to Lily’s child. He wasn't overly nice, and he knew that, but he also really didn’t want to upset Lily anymore. Besides, maybe the boy might actually prove decent, he was already showing a bit more of his mum if his speech the other day was anything to go by.

“I… I kinda want to try.” Neville mumbled. “But I’m pants at potions.”

“Nonsense Mr. Longbottom. Your problem is that you are jumpy and second guess yourself constantly.” Severus told him in a calm voice, making sure not to let any reprimand leak into his voice, that would be counterproductive. “One of the most important aspects in potions is knowing your ingredients, and most of those ingredients are plant based. And you, Mr. Longbottom, are well known in the staff room as a herbology prodigy.

Tell me Mr. Longbottom, what are three plants that have calming properties?”

“Lavender, chamomile, and jasmine Sir.” Neville answered instantly. “All three of them both help with sleep as well.”

“Precisely. So, if I was brewing a calming or sleeping potion and wished to increase its strength, would I add essence of lavender, or essence of lemon?” Severus asked.

“Lavender.” Neville said again instantly, surprising himself. “Lemon is more energizing than calming.”

“Exactly.” Severus nodded to the shy boy that was for once not stuttering over every other word around him. “Knowing your ingredients is one of the most important parts of potions. If you attend lessons with Mr. Potter and I this summer I can explain some more.”

“I… I think I would like that.” Neville said with a blush.

Severus nodded, oddly pleased he had managed to win the boy over, even if just slightly.

* * *

Harry was less than pleased to see Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were still standing in the hall when they left the office a few minutes later.

“Well, what did the greasy git want?” Ron glared at the door Neville had closed behind them.

“He just wanted to talk.” Neville shrugged.

Harry almost flinched back at the three looks he got, all demanding answers. “He just wanted to apologize for how he had to treat the two of us over the years.”

“Why would he do that?” Ginny asked in confusion.

“You guys all know he was a spy.” Harry pointed out. “Apparently he was friends with our mums when they were all in school. There were those who knew about their friendships and he couldn’t risk them seeing him being nice to us.”

“Why would your mum be friends with someone like that?” Ron demanded in disgust.

“They met when they were children.” Harry shrugged. “Come on Nev, I told Sirius we would meet him down by the lake once we finished meeting with Snape.”

“Professor Snape.” Hermione corrected in irritation. “Harry, what is going on with you?”

Harry looked at his friend in confusion. “What do you mean? Nothing is wrong with me, other than I’m still a bit tired.”

“The way you are acting, it isn’t like you at all.” Hermione waved an arm. In truth, she thought she might know. He was acting like he didn’t have any of the compulsion or submission potions she and the others had helped slip to him over the years. “You never would have yelled at teachers in the past. And you are treating Ron, Ginny, and I like we are nothing. We are your best friends, you should act like it.”

“All you have done since Harry returned as stalk and berate him.” Neville pointed out as he and Harry started walking outside. “Maybe if you bothered to act like friends yourselves…”

“Shut up Neville, you don’t know anything.” Ron snapped. He hated that the other boy was taking his place next to Harry.

“He’s right.” Harry defended. “I am allowed to have my own opinions on things. I have told everyone how I feel, but the three of you just keep arguing with me. Trying to force me to think and act the same as you isn’t going to work and I don’t want to deal with it.

Regardless of your opinions, I will be going home with Sirius. Sirius is my family, and nothing you say can or will ever change that. I don’t try and dictate what you do during the summer, please show me the same curtesy.”

“But Harry, they’re your family.” Hermione argued in what she may have thought was an encouraging tone, but really just sounded whiny to Harry’s ears.

“Hermione.” Harry took a deep breath to keep from snapping at her. “How’s this, if you think the Dursley’s are so great then you stay with them. But as for me, not going to happen.”

“Harry!” A shout came as Sirius spotted them and waved them over. “How was your meeting with Snape?”

“Fine.” Harry smiled as he sat down and rested against the tree Sirius was sitting under.

The small group sat and talked for a while. As time passed a few other students joined them, Harry, Sirius, and Neville never had a problem with it, but the other three were less then subtle in their attempts to make them leave.

* * *

“Oy, mini Malfoy!” Sirius called about an hour after Harry and the others had joined him when he saw the easily identifiable blond hair.

“You wanted my attention?” Draco drawled once he and his friends had come over. All of them were slightly wary.

“I just wanted to check in.” Sirius announced happily, paying no attention to the others discomfort. He may have been a stupid little git when he was in school, but ever since James had done whatever it was he did he had been seeing things a lot clearer and wasn't going to pick on kids.

‘Check in?” Now Draco was even more confused.

“Well, yeah.” Sirius shrugged. “I just wanted to make sure you were going to be ok this summer.”

“Why would you care?” Draco asked.

“Yeah, he’s just a slimy snake death eater. At least his daddy’s going to prison where he belongs.” Ron said nastily. “Wonder how long it’s going to be before you have the cell next to his Malfoy.”

“Enough.” Sirius snapped at the rude little boy, not that he had been much better at that age. “The reason I ask is that I’m taking up the Black Lordship.”

“And what would that have to do with me?” Draco said. “I know my mother was a Black, but I am a Malfoy.”

“Yeah, your situation is a little more complicated than that due to your parents marriage contract.” Sirius motioned for the Slytherins to take a seat since it was going to take a bit to explain everything. “My great grandfather had me there to see how marriage contracts were done when your parents was written up.

From what I remember, although your mother married into the Malfoy family, she still retained her position as a Daughter of House Black. That status would extend to her children if Lord Black granted it. Now, I know that prior to my incarceration she hadn’t petitioned for you to be formally recognized, but you still have enough Black blood for you to fall under my purview, but not my direct authority.”

“But why would you think things at home would be difficult for Draco?” Daphne Greengrass questioned.

“Well, his parents marriage contract wasn't particularly normal. See, the original contract stated that the first born Daughter of House Black would marry the first born son of Abraxas Malfoy. But that didn’t happen.” Sirius told them.

“Because Bellatrix married Lestrange.” Draco nodded, although not understanding why Bellatrix would break a contract, the woman had been fanatical about the old ways.

“What? No.” Sirius narrowed his eyes as he realized Narcissa most likely hadn’t taught Draco the reality of the Black family. “Your mum is the youngest of three sisters. She and Bellatrix had an elder sister. Andromeda.”

“I had another Aunt? Did she die or something?” Draco said in shock.

“Or something.” Sirius smirked. “Andy was always a bit more… wayward than her younger sisters. That, and she would have smothered Lucius with a pillow within a week of being married… She actually didn’t wait that long and attempted it, twice.”

“She tried to kill Lucius Malfoy?” Daphne gasped, figuring that was what had gotten the girl killed and that was why Draco had never met her.

“Yeah.” Sirius chuckled like he was remembering a fond memory. “The first time when she was originally told about the contract when she was 8. From what I was told the two of them had been sitting on the couch next to each other when they were informed and she just reached over grabbed one of the throw pillows and dived on top of him. Her parents grounded her for an entire month, great grandfather laughed, said it showed her Black nature.

The second time was when they were 11 and had first started school. She managed to bewitch the bed curtains in every dorm to attack him every time he lay down. It took their head of house over a month to figure out what had been happening. Poor little Luci had to sleep on the couch the entire time. For that she got a week of detentions and lost 20 points.”

“So what happened to her?” Draco asked, glossing over the butchery of his fathers name.

“Oh. The marriage was arranged to take place the day after their graduation. So, she left her graduation early, went to a muggle village and eloped with her secret boyfriend.” Sirius smiled. “Honestly, I think her parents may have been able to find a way to work around it if it had been another Slytherin, but having her arrive home happily introducing everyone to her muggleborn Hufflepuff husband was a little too much. Her parents disowned her that very day.”

“So what happened to her after that?” Daphne thought that woman sounded interesting.

“She lives in Bristol.” Sirius said. “She, and her muggleborn Hufflepuff husband, Ted, are barristers and have their own firm there. They do quite well for themselves. Their daughter was a Puff and would have graduated the year before you lot started your first year. She’s an auror now. Although she’s currently in St. Mungo’s after having a run in with Bellatrix at the Ministry, but her healers say she’ll be fine.”

“So I have an Aunt and cousin I’ve never even heard of?” Draco said, wondering just what else had been kept from him.

“Yes, but that isn’t the point I was trying to make.” Sirius brushed that fact aside. “Since the original contract was broken, a new one was made for Cissy and Luci. But this contract wasn't a traditional Black marriage contract. Normally, since the Black family is so old and wealthy, the Black Lord retains near full control over the couple. Only rarely does the Black family ever give up the primary position on anything, and never willingly.

In fact, I think other than your parents contract the only other time it happened in the past 100 years or so was when Dorea Black married Charlus Potter, your grandparents Harry.” Sirius smiled at his godson. “But since Andy had broken the first contract Great Grandfather had to make a few concessions. For their contract both were seen as equals.”

“That still doesn’t explain how that can cause problems for me over the summer.” Draco said.

“There are clauses about incapacitation in the contract. If at any time your father is incapable of carrying out his head of family duties, either from injury, incarceration, or death, the Malfoy family vaults and estates go into lockdown.” Sirius told a shocked Draco. “Most, if not all, old families have blood seals on their vaults, as I’m sure you know. Also, the Malfoy family is patriarchal so she has no say over managing anything. Your mother will only have access to her own personal and dowery vaults.

I know that she had a larger than normal dowery, and I’m not sure about how she has handled her own money, but I also know how materialistic she was as a girl. I don’t think she would be able to maintain your current standard of living.

Now, I know that a stipend will be paid for the upkeep of any children, and housing will be made available, but I don’t know how much that is. The only way you would be able to access the Malfoy family vaults or manage the accounts is with the assistance of an adult, male, Malfoy.”

“But I’m the only Malfoy.” Draco says with fear entering his voice. He knewSirius was right about his mums lack of talent when it came to money.

Sirius gave him a quizzical look at that. “So, did your parents teach you nothing about either side of your family?”

Draco looked up in shock. “What, do I have another secret aunt?”

“Well…” Sirius shrugged. “Your dad had a younger brother, but his wife passed a few years ago.” Draco gave him a deadpanned look. “Originally your uncle was contracted to Clarabella Avery.”

“My mother!?” Daphne Greengrass said in shock.

“Yes, but neither wanted to marry each other. Your mother was friendly with Andy so she threatened to follow in her footsteps and run away to marry your father if they didn’t agree to break the contract they had made for her. From what I heard she had actually packed a bag and was halfway down the front lane by the time your grandparents finally accepted she was serious.” Sirius told her much to the girls glee.

“So what happened to my uncle?” Draco asked.

Sirius raised an eyebrow and looked around. “And that is why you are not in Ravenclaw. Look around little Malfoy. See anyone here that looks slightly similar to you?”

Draco looked around in confusion but his attention was caught by a bell like laugh. Looking over he saw the Lovegood girl resting with her head in Potter’s lap. “But she’s a Lovegood?”

“Yes, she is a Lovegood.” Sirius nodded. “But that is because the Lovegood family is a matriarchy. When Xenophilius Malfoy married Pandora Lovegood he took her last name. I believe your grandfather disinherited him for that. It wasn't a full disownment, but he, and your father, never acknowledged him again.”

“I’m sure daddy would be willing to help if needed.” Luna smiled at her cousin. “But his influence will be limited due to the clauses his father put into the family charter after he left.”

“And that is exactly why I asked.” Sirius said. “If you petitioned to be recognized as a Son of House Black then I would be able to ensure you were properly looked after.”

“If he fell under the Black charter is there any way you could cancel a marriage contract for him?” Daphne questioned.

Sirius looked between the two in interest. “Do you want to get married, or not want to get married?”

“Neither.” The two said giving each other slightly nauseated looks.

“I like Daphne as a friend, but that’s it.” Draco assured.

“Same here, plus I’m contracted to someone else.” Daphne added. “No, Draco is contracted to my little sister.”

“Then can’t you get your parents to break the contract if she doesn’t want to marry him? Moreover, after everything that happened with your mum I’m surprised they even made one for her.” Sirius questioned.

“Oh, they didn’t. My, and my sisters, contracts were made by our fathers father when he was Lord Greengrass before he passed.” Daphne sighed. “Our parents have been working on dissolving them since dad became the new Lord, but they haven’t found anything yet.”

“Ouch, that kind of hurts.” Draco snarked. “I know I don’t particularly want to marry your sister, and have been looking for ways out of it, but you make it sound like it’s the worst thing to ever happen.”

“Have you read that contract?” Daphne asked.

“No, my parents said it was fine.” Draco shrugged. “They know I’d rather not marry your sister, but it doesn’t sound that bad. Besides, don’t most contracts have outs once both parties are of age?”

“If it was a normal contract then yes.” Daphne said in exasperation. “But it sounds like your parents have been lying to you, again. The contract is completely archaic. And, it’s an absolute contract. There are no outs that we’ve found. In both of our contracts we are to be dutiful pureblood wives. We are barred from getting jobs or continuing our studies. We are required to host any and all social engagements for our husbands. But worst of all we are restricted to a maximum 2 children and our first borns are to be sworn to the Dark Lord the day they are born, along with the first born children of every generation of our family for the next 3 generations.”

Draco looked sick. “It says what?” His voice was filled with horror.

“Wow, that has to be amongst the worst contracts I’ve ever heard about.” Sirius said in shock. “Who would ever sign something like that?”

“For me it was my grandfather, as Lord Greengrass, and Theo’s grandfather, as Lord Nott. For Astoria it was my grandfather again, Lucius Malfoy, as head of the Malfoy family, and Narcissa Malfoy, as proxy for Lord Black.”

Sirius sat up straight and narrowed his eyes. “When was your sisters contract signed?”

“January 28, 1984, the month after Tory was born.” Daphne said, seeing the look in the mans eyes she hoped there was something he could do for her sister.

Sirius laughed softly. “Cissy always was clever, but not clever enough.”

Everyone just looked at him in confusion.

“Our great grandfather, the last Lord Black, died in November 1983. I was in Azkaban, and as far as Cissy knew there was no one left to claim the title of Lord Black. But she was wrong.

As has been in the paper, I was sent to Azkaban without trial. If I had been legally convicted I would have been stripped of my right to inherit. But I wasn’t. Because of that I was the presumptive Lord Black from that point until now. I technically am still not Lord Black until I go to Gringotts and collect the ring.

Cissy would assume that Draco was the only one left to inherit, which would have allowed her to serve as proxy until Draco came of age and claimed the ring even though the Black family is a patriarchy. It would have made the contract legal. But Draco was never the Heir. Even without me there was still no guarantee Draco would have gotten the title, it could have gone to either Draco or Harry, but most likely Harry.”

“Me, why me?” Harry looked to his godfather in shock.

“Because I am the last male Black in the main line, but both you and Draco descend from females of the main line. The last Lord Black was Cissy’s great grandfather, but he was also your grandmothers father. Either of you could claim the position. But, aunt Dorea petitioned her father to recognize both James and yourself when you were each born. As far as I know, Cissy never had Draco recognized as a member of the family. So your claim would have been given priority.

As it is, no contract for a member of House Black is legal without being approved of by the Lord. By signing it as proxy of Lord Black Cissy brought the Black family into the contract. If she hadn't, then I would have been restricted in what I could do, but since she did I have a say. If Draco petitions to be a member of house Black, then I, as Lord Black would be given the option to reaffirm the contract or deny it. Magics judgment may cause either side to pay a fine for the termination of the contract, but that isn’t very likely. ” Sirius explained.

“What do I need to do?” Draco asked quickly, this was his chance to get out of a contract he had never really wanted in the first place, now he knew what was really in it he wanted out.

“After the term ends I will be formally claiming the Lordship. Contact me and request to be recognized as a Son of House Black. There is a small ritual and boom, you are a full part of the family and I can cancel the contract.” Sirius told him.

“Anything you can do for Daph and I?” Theo asked in a melancholy voice, though it’s obvious he doesn’t have much hope.

“Well…” Sirius shrugs as he thinks back to the family lessons that had been drilled into his head as a kid he had tried to forget. “From what I know, both your father and uncle have been arrested and are most likely to go to Azkaban, correct? And they are the last of your family?”

Theo nodded. He really didn’t care, he couldn’t stand his father or uncle.

“Well, from what I remember your… great great grandmother was Callisto Black. She was from a secondary line, but you still technically have Black blood. Of they are convicted you can technically be classed as an orphan as you have no other immediate relatives, which means you can go to any number of your more distant relatives, which includes the Black family.

Once they are convicted you could apply for the Orphan clause in the family charter. You would need to be blood adopted by a member of the family, I would be barred from doing it myself as Lord Black, but anyone else could do it. If the family magics accepted you I would be able to cancel the contract for you.” Sirius told everyone.

“Are you suggesting that I try and get adopted by Narcissa Malfoy?” Theo asked, slight horror in his voice. “No offence Draco, but she’s not exactly maternal.”

Draco shrugged his agreement. He had always been told shrugging was not how a pure-blood should act, but his parents weren’t there to yell at him.

“What about Andy?” Harry questioned. “You said you were going to welcome her and Tonks back into the family.”

Sirius smiled at his godson. “That would work. Andy and Ted would be able to take you in. I’m not saying you would have to start calling them mum and dad or anything, but they could look after you until you come of age. And I know, you aren’t a baby, I left home at 16 myself after my parents tried to force me to take the Dark Mark, but you still need someone.”

“See Harry, marriage contracts aren’t permanent.” Hermione said in a superior tone. “While I think they are ridiculous and disgusting they also aren’t as serious as people make them out to be. Once Sirius signs the contract between you and Ginny you will see.”

“What?” All the Slytherins said in shock.

“Potter has a contract with the Weaslette?” Blaise Zabini asked in stunned disbelief.

“No.” Harry said quickly, seeing that Hermione was nodding her head and looking like she was about to confirm it. “The Headmaster wanted to create one for us, but it was decided not to.”

“But why mate?” Ron asked in confusion, he knew the role he had to play, his mum had written to him that morning before breakfast. “You and Gin would be perfect together. Besides, it’s just a way to protect you both from anyone trying to force you into marriage contracts with others.”

“So to keep him from being forced into a marriage contract you want to force him into a marriage contract?” Daphne said sarcastically.

“Either way, it isn’t happening.” Sirius spoke up. “Harry and I have discussed it, and decided against it.”

“But…” Hermione started only to be cut off by Harry himself.

“I said no. I don’t care if it isn’t permanent or if it can be cancelled later, I don’t want to be considered engaged to Ginny.” Harry grumbled.

“Marriage contracts aren’t something to take lightly Granger.” Daphne said. “You have to know every detail of any contracts you sign, and even then things can get weird. Like when it comes to a contracted couple canceling one, if both aren’t in agreement there is no guarantee it can be cancelled. One of them could call for magical judgment and then anything could happen.

Magics judgment doesn’t just look at what was written, but the intent behind the words and all those involved. And let’s all just be honest, even with out clauses Potter’s not likely to get out of it cleanly. The Weaslette has been obsessed with him since first year and everyone knows that. She may have dumped her flavour of the month, but she will never willingly let Potter go if she has a chance at him, even if it’s not what he wants.”

“Don’t talk about my sister like that you…” Ron snarled but was cut off by Sirius.

“Merlin, all this talk of family makes me think we might need to arrange a family reunion soon.” Sirius chuckled slightly, he knew he needed to change the topic. “I’ll have to contact St. Mungo’s.”

“Why would you need to contact St. Mungo’s?” Neville questioned quickly to keep Ron from yelling at everyone.

“The Black family has had an understanding with them for over 100 years. Whenever there is a Black family reunion, we are to give them a minimum of 3 months warning. So, I probably wouldn’t be able to schedule it until Yule at the earliest.” Sirius said in consideration.

“Why would you have something like that arranged with a hospital?” Harry asked with a slight smirk.

“Well, I’m sure most of you have at least heard rumours of the Black family madness.” Sirius watched as most nodded their agreement. “The truth is that the Black family descends from norse berserkers. When our blood gets pumping the olde magic in our blood can stir. It gives us more strength and stamina in times of need. Bellatrix is one of the most well known examples. She has a great deal of the berserker blood, but she lacks the mental strength to control it which is why she is insane.

Although much of the extended Black family is generally saner, it isn’t always by much. The last family reunion I attended was the year I graduated. I had already moved out and was living with James, but Dorea took us, she said it would be cathartic.

It began like all Black family reunions do, with a duelling tournament, only rule was no killing, anything else was fine. The tournaments were implemented over 150 years ago so everyone could get it out of their systems before they found all new reasons to hate each other. And the reunions always take place over multiple days, that one went on for another three days. During that time no less then 15 people went to St. Mungo’s.

It was your great grandmother Neville, Callidora Longbottom nee Black, that made me shoot firewhiskey out my nose when she repeatedly hit her cousin Pollux in the crotch with her walking stick before she banished him through the bay window. That man never did learn the golden rule.”

“Golden rule?” Blaise asked chuckling as Neville just looked at Sirius in wide-eyed shock.

“Yes, when a woman asks you if you like her new dress, always say yes. Saying ‘it makes you look frumpy and clashes with that grey hair of yours’ will, like I said, get you repeatedly hit in the crotch and banished through a window. And more than that, none of the witches who know healing spells will lift a wand to help you.” Sirius warned the boys.

“I think that was a perfectly reasonable response.” Daphne shrugged with a smirk.

Sirius sat back with a dreamy smile. “Oh, that was a good reunion. I got to curse so many of my dear family members. It took Bellatrix a full month to get her knees bending in the right direction again, I can only guess what she told her precious Dark Lord.”

“You met with Death Eaters during the war?” Hermione shrieked like a tea kettle.

“One thing you need to understand about the wizarding world Hermione, nothing is more important than family.” Sirius said sagely. “The Black family in particular has always had people on every side of every conflict, it’s actually encouraged. It’s so that no matter which side wins, the Black family will continue.

Yes, there were Death Eaters, there were Order members, there were ministry officials, Merlin, one of my cousins was even arguing that we needed to bow down to our squirrel overlords. Although Lycrois always was a bit mental, he still chose a side.”

“Where is he now, he sounds like someone worth talking with?” Luna questioned in true interest.

“Last I heard he was living in Tibet working on getting the locals to arrange a trade deal with some prairie dogs he knew from the United States. He might still be there, those negotiations were going very slow from what I heard.” Sirius said thoughtfully. “Like I said, the Blacks can be a little mad. No family reunion was considered a success unless at least a dozen people went to hospital. And given who’s a part of the family now I don’t think it will be any different.”

“But you said you were the last of the Blacks.” Hermione said. “It’s why you get the title.”

“No, I’m the last male of the main line with the last name Black. The Blacks married into nearly every family in Britain. I think other than you, as far as I know Hermione, I have some kind of familial connection with every one here.” Sirius said as he looked around.

“I’m not a Black.” Ron argued. “And I’m most definitely not related to a Malfoy.”

“Yes, you are. You may not have the last name, but you are most definitely related, just more distantly.” Sirius said in a serious tone. “Your dads mum was Cedrella Black, she was my… first cousin twice times removed. And your mother is my fifth cousin, twice removed.

Normally the reunion was limited to only those within a certain distance. No one past 6th cousins was invited. I know your mum never came, but your uncles sure did. And so did your dad. Like I said Callidora came, and so did Frank, even Alice attended that last one.”

“My mum went to a Black family reunion?” Neville asked in shock.

“Yup.” Sirius said popping the ‘p’ before laughing. “Oh she had fun. She cursed everyone who even looked at her funny. Although, she did have Lily there to back her up.”

“Mum?” Harry gasped.

“She had just started dating your dad and he brought her. Said she needed to know what she was getting into with him.” Sirius smiled at the memory. “Bellatrix called her a mudblood as soon as she walked through the door. But your mum wouldn’t take that laying down, no. She slipped out her wand and filled Bellatrix’s mouth with soap before casting the horn tongue hex along with the toe-nail growing and pimple curses. Bellatrix seemed to avoid her for a few hours after that.”

Harry laughed as everyone started to discuss what sort of things happened at Black family reunions. No one was giving Hermione or Ron a chance to bring up the marriage contract to Ginny again.

* * *

“Harry, we need to talk.” Hermione said as soon as Harry was back in the common room that evening.

Harry sighed. “What now?”

Hermione crossed her arms and glared in anger, completely forgetting to put up the privacy spells she had planned to. “This is exactly what we need to talk about, your attitude. We went all the way to the Ministry to fight at your side, even though we all now know it was a set up you fell for, and now you are treating us like we are nothing. You have been nothing but rude since you returned. Then, when the Headmaster tries to help you while protecting Ginny, you refuse. He was just trying to help you. Not to mention you are endangering Ginny.”

“Hermione, I told you guys not to come with me. It was your decision to go to the Ministry, one I am grateful for, but still your decision. And yes, it was a trap I fell for, but do you know what, I don’t regret it. Because I fell for it he is now gone. Even knowing that it is a trap I would still do it again just to be free of that madman.

As for that idea of a marriage contract.” Harry turned to include Ron and Ginny who had joined them and were hemming him into a corner. “I said no, and Sirius, Remus, and Mr. Weasley all supported me in that. Like Greengrass said this afternoon, contracts like that aren’t something to take lightly. I just got my freedom, I don’t want to be trapped into a loveless marriage because magic acted weird around me like it often does.

Ginny, I am sorry if it upsets you, but the simple fact is that I am not interested in you that way. I don’t care if it’s temporary, I do not want to get engaged to you. And I’m not endangering Ginny, she’s in no more danger now than she was before. Any marriage contract for her needs to be signed by her parents, so it’s her parents that she needs to protect her.”

“Harry.” Ginny whined as she tried to snuggle into his side only for Harry to get up and move away from her. “The contract is just a formality. Mum wrote to me about it, it’s no big deal.”

“So I can guess that’s why you broke up with me.”

A voice came from just behind Harry. Turning, Harry saw an angry Dean Thomas. This confused Harry as he thought she had been dating Michael Corner.

“Dean.” Ginny sighed as she shook her head. “It’s nothing personal. My parents just want to protect Harry and I and are planning to make a contract. It would be inappropriate for me to publicly date someone while engaged.”

“Well, as Harry said, you aren’t engaged.” Dean had been so hurt and confused when she broke up with him that morning, now he was angry. “But as it is, I’m glad you broke up with me, saves me from having you act like I’m the bad guy like you do with Micheal. You know what, I deserve better, and so does Harry.”

Harry gave his dorm mate a small smile but made sure it was gone when he turned back to the others. “This is the last time I am going to say this… I am not now, nor do I intend to ever be, engaged to Ginny. So I don’t care who you date. Even your dad agreed with me to not sign anything, but most importantly, so did Sirius and Remus. And as Sirius is my guardian, his signature is the only one that matters for me. You guys, and your mum, can make up any plans you want, but it isn’t going to happen. I. Am. Not. Interested. In. Ginny.”

Getting up Harry went over to sit with Dean and Seamus. A few other members of their house closed ranks around the two angry boys to keep Ginny and the others away.

Hermione glared, this did not go as planned. Harry was supposed to agree with them, not argue. They needed him to get together with Ginny, how else were they supposed to keep control of the prat after they left school. Hermione knew she was going to have to talk to the Headmaster about how to best correct Harry, but summer was also starting the next day, and she had summers off. Hermione didn’t want to have to spend the entire summer keeping Harry in line after having had to deal with him for the entire year.

Ron really didn’t care, all he really wanted was some more of the cake he had gotten at the feast, the elves had taken it away before he was finished. He knew that they needed to get Harry to marry Ginny, but he had already done his part that year. It was up to Ginny to get Harry interested, she was the one failing, not him.


	7. To the Bank

After a late breakfast the next day Harry and Sirius went with the others to the train station. Their plans were to apparate from their directly to the bank. They had gotten a message from Remus the night before that something odd was going on and that he had arranged for them to have a meeting with the Potter account manager.

All through breakfast and the entire trip to the train station was spent with Harry silently counting to 10 in his head. He just couldn’t understand what was going on with his friends, they were driving him crazy with their nagging. What part of ‘his healer said he was not to take the train’ did they not get?

They just kept going on about all the things they felt Harry was doing wrong and what they thought he should be doing instead. But the most annoying thing was how Ginny kept trying to get close to him and hit on him. After her treatment of Dean he didn’t really want anything to do with her. Her behaviour had always kind of freaked him out, now it sort of disgusted him, no one should treat others like that.

Once the others got on the train Harry and Sirius immediately left, not even wasting their time to wave the others off. Sirius took a strong grip on Harry and apparated away.

* * *

Harry was grateful for Sirius having such a strong grip on him because if he hadn’t Harry had no doubt he would have been laying face first in the dirt. As it was he was working very hard to keep his breakfast down.

“You ok pup?” Sirius smiled down at the disheveled boy. He was just glad that Remus had managed to arrange for them to apparate into the privet apparition room in the bank. He knew that Albus didn’t want him to have Harry and most likely had arranged to have someone watching the front entrance of the bank to stop them. “Just take a few deep breaths.”

Harry did as told and was finally able to calm his system. “Let’s go, we shouldn’t waste the goblins time.”

“Lord Presumptive Black and Heir Presumptive Potter to meet with Potter Account Manager Silverstaff.” Sirius announced formally to the three goblins that were watching them.

“Follow.” One of the goblins announced. The other two were guards, and the guards only interacted with bank clients to threaten them into behaving or kill any that attempted any kind of theft.

Despite goblins having much shorter legs than humans, they could move surprisingly quickly. Sirius and Harry both found themselves growing short of breath as they hurried after the goblin. They were lead through the twisting and turning halls of the bank until they came to a stop in front of a door. After knocking once their guide announced them and left, Harry making sure to thank him.

After formal greetings were exchanged Sirius and Harry took their seats just for the doors to open and a harassed and frustrated Remus to be escorted in.

“Everything ok Moony?” Sirius asked.

“Yeah, I apologize if I’m late Manager Silverstaff.” Remus nodded in deference to the goblin. “I was stopped by Jones in the Cauldron, Vance by the apothecary, Doge as I passed Madam Malkins, and Mad-Eye on the steps of the bank. I’m pretty sure if the guards hadn’t been there he would have dragged me away, but I don’t think even he’s crazy enough to intervene with bank business while in bank territory… Yet.”

“What is going on with them, it’s just a visit to the bank?” Harry questioned. It had been odd how often his friends had gone off about how there was no need for him to go to the bank.

“Who knows?” Sirius shrugged before looking to Silverstaff. “So, down to business.”

Silverstaff was irritated to learn that someone had tried to halt this meeting, she was just pleased it hadn’t worked and she had arranged for the Heir to arrive in one of the private rooms. Those rooms were only available to the wealthier clients. “First we must verify Mr. Potter is indeed who he says he is and the Heir to House Potter.”

Harry just blinked. The goblins he had met so far had all had gruff deep voices, this ones voice was high and melodious. It would seem there was little to no physical difference, that Harry could spot, that separated male and female goblins, but their voices did, and he was pretty sure this one was female. “Of course, how do I do that?”

Silverstaff indicated the bowl on her desk. “A simple blood potion. Add three drops of your blood.”

Harry did as told and watched as the potion was stirred before being dumped on a blank scroll. Words began to quickly write themselves.

Name: Harrison James Potter

Date of Birth: July 31, 1980

Father: James Charlus Potter

Mother: Lily Marie Potter (Evans)

Godfather: Sirius Orion Black

Godmother: Alice Grace Longbottom (Macmillan)

Title(s):

Potter - Heir (Lord at 17)

Peverell - Heir (Lord at 17)

Gryffindor - Heir (Lord at 21)

Slytherin - Heir (Lord at 21)*

*Title granted by conquest rights

Vaults: See associated folders

Properties: See associated folders

Sirius let out a whistle at seeing the test before he paused. “Why isn’t the Black Heirship there?”

Silverstaff gave him a bland look. “Because you are the current Heir. Only once you claim your title can you name an Heir.”

“Right, forgot about that.” Sirius couldn’t help but blush slightly. “I’m going to need to do that.”

Silverstaff raised a bushy eyebrow and pressed a stone on her desk to call for another goblin. Ironclaw quickly entered the room having expected the call. He had been the Black Account Manager for over 80 years and had everything ready to fully reopen the vaults that had gone dormant since the last Lord Black passed.

It was rather quick and easy for Sirius and Harry to claim their titles, all they had to do was put on the rings. The family magics would determine if they were worthy, if they weren’t the rings would just return to their boxes and wait for someone who was. Sirius was judged a little longer since he was accepting the title of Lord while Harry was only becoming Heir, but both were accepted by the rings.

“Now, Remus said something was going on with the Potter accounts. He couldn’t do anything even with my permission as Harry’s legal guardian.” Sirius looked at the goblin in concern. He was worried something had happened.

“Yes, the late Lord and Lady Potter made arrangements for how we would handle the vaults in the event of their death.” Silverstaff said as she looked at the paperwork in front of her. “Both were concerned that their time was short and that they would not survive long enough for their son to reach his majority. To that end, they came to the bank a few days before their death to file everything with us as they had their doubts in the Ministries capability of ensuring their wishes were carried out. In the event that the Ministry sealed or failed to follow their wills we were to only deal with their chosen steward.

As they suspected, their wills were sealed only hours after their deaths. As per their instructions, I have only allowed their chosen steward access to anything. After being contacted by Mr. Lupin I reached out to the steward and it was they that approved this meeting.”

“And just who did they choose?” Sirius questioned in concern. He was furious that the wills had been sealed but now wasn't the time to blow up over that, now he needed to make sure his godson hadn’t been ripped off.

“I am not at liberty to discuss that.” Silverstaff told them. “It was part of the security measures that were put in place. Only the steward may inform others of their position. It was so that no one could try and pressure the steward to do anything that wasn't in the interest of the Potter estate.

After Mr. Lupin contacted me about looking for a proper home for Heir Potter for the summer I contacted the steward. As per the instruction of the steward Briar Hall, the Potter family cottage near St. Ives was made ready. Three of the Potter house elves have been assigned there to maintain the property and care for you. The steward has requested that you be there on Wednesday at 1 so she may visit and give Heir Potter a full summary of everything she has done since the passing of his parents. This chain is a portkey that will take you to the cottage. The pass code is Cottage Home.

You are of course welcome to refuse the prearranged property and look for another. You will also be allowed to go over your financial affairs with Account Manager Ironclaw.”

Harry and the two men all looked at each other for a moment before they reached a silent understanding.

“I think the cottage will be fine for now. If there are any issues we can always find something else later.” Sirius spoke for them. “If I can just get the Black account ledger I can go over it and then arrange a meeting with Ironclaw later.”

Ironclaw handed over 3 thick folders. “These are your copies of the Black account ledger, family legal contracts, and property information. The grey pages details everything done since my last meeting with the previous Lord Black. New copies or replacements will be available at a cost of 17 knuts, per page.”

Sirius glanced at the files and made a mental note not to lose any of them. He knew that even though they appeared huge it was nothing in comparison to how big they really were, they were shrunk so they could be held. He knew the Black account ledger had been easily over 100,000 pages the last time he had seen it when he had visited his great grandfather when he had been 13. That meant there were over 2 decades worth of more information. Replacing the ledger could easily cost well over 3000 galleons. It wasn't enough to make him broke, or even make a dent in any of the Black vaults, but it was still a large expense he didn’t want to have to pay.

Once they had everything Sirius needed to go over his own accounts they retrieved the portkey to the property that had been arranged and traveled to their new home.

* * *

The first impression Harry had of Briar Hall was that it was perfect. It was a beautiful little cottage that wouldn’t seem out of place in a muggle fairytale book.

The area around the house was visually deceptive. Going up the front walkway you passed through a wooded area. The house itself was surrounded by a large garden overflowing with flowers. And behind the house was the Celtic Sea that separated England from Ireland.

The property was thankfully far enough away from the town that there was little to no reason to worry about crossing paths with any of the tourists that descended on the beach front town during the summers. There was only a small walking path that connected the cottage to the outside world and that was covered in muggle repelling wards, just like the property itself.

Inside Harry found it was just as nice. The main floor was obviously the living space. It had the living room, a small library, dining room, and kitchen. They found a fully stocked potions lab in the basement, this pleased Harry as he thought it would be a great place to have his potions lessons with Neville and Snape. Upstairs was where the rooms were. There were three bedrooms, one for each of them.

Harry couldn’t help but let out a slight sigh of relief at seeing the number of rooms as it meant they couldn’t have overnight guests. As much as Harry had always liked having friends around he also often wanted his space. In previous summers, when he visited The Burrow or they were at Grimmauld, Harry always found himself getting overwhelmed by everyone and the constant noise. He figured it was going to be an active and exciting enough summer living with Sirius and Remus.


	8. James and Lily had a Plan

Harry found himself settling into his new home quite quickly. By the end of the first few days he felt completely comfortable.

It was odd, Harry had never been one to be overly comfortable anywhere. He had never been comfortable at the Dursleys. The Burrow was nice(ish) if you could overlook the constant noise and never having a moments peace from everyone in your business. Grimmauld was less than comfortable and had the same issues as The Burrow along with a demented house elf and a shrieking portrait. The closest Harry had ever had to a home was Hogwarts, but even with all the good that came from his going to Hogwarts there was also the trauma that came along with nearly dying every year and the bullying he had to put up with whenever he did anything that wasn't perfectly Gryffindorish.

But here, Harry could relax.

* * *

The school year had ended on a Thursday that year so Harry and his uncles had almost a full week to settle in before the Potter family steward would meet them. They had received a letter the day before from the steward, via the goblins, who informed them she would be there at one as planned but she would also be bringing her son with her if that was acceptable. None of them had seen issue with it and had quickly sent their agreement back through the same method.

Harry thought the security was a little over the top but decided just to accept it.

It had only been six days, but Harry had already gotten over a dozen letters from Dumbledore and Mrs. Weasley all trying to convince him to 1, go back to the Dursley’s, 2, if not the Dursley’s then move into The Burrow, 3, if not that than convince Sirius to reopen Grimmauld and allow everyone to move back in there together, and 4, agree to the marriage contract between him and Ginny. He knew that both Sirius and Remus were dealing with their own barrage of letters as they were all always at the breakfast table when they arrived. Harry just didn’t get why they were all being so difficult, why couldn’t they just let Harry be happy, why were they trying to force him away from his family.

Harry had written letters to both Ron and Hermione once, but hadn’t heard back from either of them. He didn’t exactly know why, he knew they had had a few disagreements before the year ended but he didn’t think that was a reason to ignore him when he tried to reach out. But he figured it had only been 2 days since he sent out the letters and figured they just hadn’t gotten around to writing back, maybe it would just be a few more days.

But none of that mattered right then, now he was waiting to meet the steward his parents assigned. His parents had trusted this person to look after his financial future and he just wanted to make sure everything was fine. Money had never meant all that much to him since he had learned to do without, but he didn’t want anything to be wrong with what his family spent their lives gathering.

It was Sirius who answered the door when the bell rang at exactly 1. He smiled and gave a soft laugh when he saw who it was, he knew he should have expected it.

“Harry, allow me to properly introduce you to Elora Zabini.” Sirius said as he arrived back in the sitting room where he and Remus were waiting.

“Harry. It is a pleasure to finally get to meet you properly.” Elora smiled at the boy who reminded her so much of her lost friends. “I know you are both in the same year, but I’m not sure you were ever formally introduced at school so…This is my son, Blaise Zabini. Blaise, this is Harry Potter and my old friends, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, although I’m sure you remember Remus given all the praise I heard about his teaching skills.”

Remus was pleased to hear that Blaise had liked it when he was teaching.

“Pleasure to meet you all.” Blaise greeted in a smooth deep voice.

After everyone went through the basic meet and greet chit chat and everyone had a cup of tea they got down to business. Elora didn’t bother to go into detail about every little thing she did, all of it was recorded in the account ledgers she had handed over. The sum total of everything was that Harry was disgustingly rich and Elora had grown the Potter fortune by 17% in the nearly 15 years she had been in control. She also explained that she was going to remain in control until he turned 17 but if he wanted anything all he needed to do was tell her and she would arrange it. Although she held the purse strings it was his money and she wasn't going to deny him access.

“All of that’s great, but what I don’t understand is… Why you?” Remus said looking thoughtful. “I know that you and James were good friends as teens, but you went your separate ways once you both came of age. There were plenty of people they were closer too.”

Elora sighed as she set down her cup of tea. “That is a long story. It starts back when we all graduated. James had great taste and chose to marry an amazing woman. My taste wasn't so great.”

It was silent for a few moments before Blaise gave his mother an encouraging smile. “It’s ok mum. I know my father wasn't a good man. It doesn’t bother me to hear it.”

Elora sighed and cupped her sons cheek for a moment. “I never lied to you about the kind of man your father was my treasure, but I never told you everything. After graduation I fell in love with Jeremiah Gibbon. He was a few years older than I, and an incredibly handsome and well spoken man.

I was a foolish little girl. I saw this handsome older man from a powerful family and thought I was set for life. But shortly after we bonded things changed. He joined the Death Eaters and started to drink. And when he drank he got violent.”

“I remember.” Sirius said softly. “James was ready to kill him the few times we got the call to come help you while we were with the aurors.”

Elora gave a sad smile, James and Sirius had both tried to convince her to leave but she just couldn’t do it, she was sure it would get better if she just tried harder. “Yes, he often tried to convince me to run, but my pride always got in the way. I still thought I loved him and didn’t want to give that up.

But when Blaise was a few months old everything changed. One night he came home and was so happy. He was going on and on about how the Dark Lord had given him a great honour, then he told me what it was. The Dark Lord wanted to do some kind of ritual to enhance his power but he was missing a key ingredient, an ingredient Jeremiah had offered him. He needed to ritually sacrifice the first born son of a pureblood family and eat his heart.”

Elora was lost in her memory and her eyes showed her rage and pain. Blaise just stared at his mother in open-mouthed shock. He had known his father was abusive to his mother, but he had never known he had planned to kill him. All the others were horrified and Harry kept glancing at Blaise to see if there was anything he could do to help him through this.

“Jeremiah said we could always have more kids. It was why that monster had wanted my son. There were a few other children he could have used, but he also wanted to make sure his followers had heirs that could serve him. Lucius had offered Draco, but since Narcissa couldn’t have any more children he had refused. Thaddeus had offered Theo, but since Una had died in childbirth he didn’t want to leave the Nott’s without a young heir. And he didn’t think either Goyle or Crabb would have enough magic to power the ritual… So he wanted my little boy.

I was furious. We fought for hours. I tried to make him see sense, he was talking about killing our child. But he wouldn’t listen, and then he started to drink. Finally I had enough and went to pack a bag. James had always told me to floo to the auror office if I ever decided to leave and he would help me.

I packed a bag for Blaise and I and was on my way out when Jeremiah caught me. He accused me of betraying the Dark Lord, like I would ever lower myself to serve a monster like that. We started fighting again. I put Blaise in his seat so if Jeremiah attacked me he wouldn’t be hurt.

But Blaise started to cry when Jeremiah slapped me. Jeremiah just kept yelling at him to shut up as he poured himself another drink. When Blaise kept crying Jeremiah threw the bottle at his head.

All I could hear was my baby crying in pain and all I could see was the blood flowing from where the bottle had hit his head… Things got a little… fuzzy after that.

I was so angry. He hurt my little boy. By the time I calmed down enough to see straight Blaise was cradled in my arms and Jeremiah was laying on the floor in a pool of his own blood.”

It was silent for a full minute until Remus finally found his voice. “But Jeremiah was killed by a werewolf during the war.”

Elora’s eyes cleared as she forcefully pulled herself out of the memory of what had happened. “Not precisely. I was terrified. The Dark Lord wanted to sacrifice my son and I had just killed my husband. I needed someone I could trust completely.”

“So you floo called James.” Sirius nodded.

“Yes.” Elora smiled. “James thought it was just another fight. The two of you were on duty and came to try and help, it was only once you were there I told you everything. You both agreed to help me cover it up. You called both Lily and Remus to come over…”

“I don’t remember any of this.” Remus said in confusion before looking to his friend. “Sirius?”

Sirius just shook his head, not remembering either.

“I’m getting to that.” Elora told them. “Let me explain everything and then you can ask questions. “Lily and Remus arrived. Lily was 7 months pregnant at the time, but she wasn't going to let that slow her down. She quickly went to work on Blaise, made sure there wasn't even a scar. While Lily and I sat and played with Blaise the three of you made plans.

Remus, you stayed with Lily and I. Sirius, you and James went back to the office and wrote it off as just another one of our domestics in the files. Once you both finished your shifts you came back.

The plan was rather simple. It was only a few days before the full moon, and the ritual was planned to take place at exactly midnight that night. Lily, since she had been studying to be a healer, knew all kinds of things and place Jeremiah under an extremely strong preservation charm.

On the night of the full moon you all made it look like a werewolf attack. Sirius, you and James then moved his body to Greyback’s territory. Jeremiah had not hidden his dislike that the Dark Lord was working on an alliance with more werewolves and had gotten into a few fights with the man and a few of the other wolves. Everyone knows of Greybacks taste for revenge, so no one questioned Jeremiah showing up dead in his territory. It had the side benefit of sowing discord between the wolf packs and the Death Eaters and pretty much destroying that alliance, it was why you had suggested it Remus.

The Dark Lord didn’t respond well, and although Greyback stayed with him many of the less fanatical wolves chose to leave after a few Jeremiah had fought with were killed by the Dark Lord when he tried to find out who it was that had killed him. It also caused the Death Eaters to turn on the wolves and made it almost impossible for them to work together without killing each other.

With the death of my husband no one questioned me locking down the manor wards, they just assumed it was for mourning, not that I was trying to keep that monster away from my child. A few of the Death Eater wives were sent through to ask a few questions, but I convinced them Jeremiah had just told me he had a meeting to attend to and would be back later to get ready to go and meet the Dark Lord. Everyone knew Jeremiah was old fashion about the role of a wife so didn’t think he would have told me anything.”

“But why can’t we remember?” Sirius questioned.

“Because we obliviated you.” Elora shrugged.

“But I’m a werewolf.” Remus pointed out. “I have natural defences. It’s extremely hard to get a spell like that to stick to me.”

“Unless you willingly lowered your shields.” Elora pointed out. “Dumbledore had you going in and out of different packs trying to turn the wolves to his side. You knew if you got caught there was a risk of you being tortured for information. James and Sirius had the same concerns, plus Crouch had just started implementing random checks of his own aurors to make sure they weren’t covering anything up.

The three of you felt there was too much at stake. No one could know. So you agreed to have Lily and I remove your memories of what happened. Only she and I knew everything.”

Harry raised his hand slightly and blushed when everyone looked at him since he felt like a little school boy completely out of his depth. “Just a quick question. You said your husbands last name was Gibbon, but Blaise’s is Zabini. How did that happen?”

Elora smiled indulgently. “After Jeremiah died his father and brother wanted to take Blaise. They were both Death Eaters, and Jeremiah’s father was an inner circle member. They knew about the ritual the Dark Lord had been planning and wanted to carry out the original plan. I couldn’t take the risk of them getting anywhere near him. The fastest way to make sure they had no claim over Blaise was to remove him from the Gibbon line.

Since Jeremiah was the second son and his elder brother already had two boys it was easy to disown him from that family. My father accepted him as a full member of the Zabini line so I could change his last name. It allows my father to act as his head of family and keep them away from him.”

“But how does all this lead to you being steward?” Sirius questioned. “If you made James forget, then…”

“I was having a… a hard time dealing with things, so Lily helped me out.” Elora said slowly. “As far as James knew she had healed me after another fight and was helping me come to terms with the loss of my husband, the fighting with his family, and being a single mother. Lily came over nearly every week, even after they went into hiding. Harry and Blaise had play dates right up to the week of the attack.”

“We…” Harry looked at her in shock.

“Yes Harry.” Elora smiled. “You were over at our place often as a little boy. I have plenty of photos of you as a little boy playing with Blaise. I’m going to be sending over the album later, I didn’t want you to be too distracted for our first meeting so left it at home.

But, it wasn't James that suggested me as steward, he actually wanted you Remus. It was Lily.”

“Me?” Remus gasped in shock before choosing to focus on the second half of what Elora had said, he knew James would have trusted him to do right by his son. “But why would Lily choose you? Again, there were people she was closer too. Even if she visited every week, there were others she knew much longer.”

“Lily was… Lily was special.” Elora equivocated. “Lily had… dreams. She saw glimpses of what could happen. It was all dependant on the path she was on at the time and any changes she made changed the dreams, but she saw that I was someone she could trust to do what needed to be done.

From what she saw if you had been steward Remus there would have been those who used your creature status against you even more than they already do. Your position would have been a rallying cry for those anti-werewolf laws and they would have been much worse than what they are now. You would have been put through hell and ultimately murdered in your own home within three years.”

“If… If mum could see… Why didn’t she…?” Harry said in a small voice.

Elora gave Harry a sad look that showed the heartbreak in her eyes. “Lily told me that she always knew. She thought it was fates way of reminding her that although she was gifted, she wasn't immortal. From the time she was a little girl Lily knew that she would die protecting her son. No matter what she did, that didn’t change. Oh, she could put it off for a few years, or change the location or means of her death, but she was always destined to die young in the defence of her child.

She and your father chose to accept their fate and do everything they could to ensure your survival. They used an ancient sacrificial ritual Lily had found in the Peverell Grimoire she had been using in her research. As soon as the Dark Lord killed them while they were defending you he wasn't capable of killing you.”

“Headmaster Dumbledore always just said it was my mums love that saved me.” Harry said.

“Oh, it was love, but it was the love of both of your parents that protected you.” Elora didn’t know what her emotions should be, she could see how much the boy liked the idea that his parents loved him and for that she was happy, but it was also sad because they were discussing the death of those same parents. “There isn’t a decent parent alive that wouldn’t willingly die for their child. If all it took was love than no child would have been killed in the war. No, it was your parents love being used to power an ancient ritual that saved you.”

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment. “If mum knew all of this… why was I sent to the Dursley’s? Why did Siri get sent to Azkaban? Surely she could have stopped that.

Elora let out a dejected sigh. “Your mum only saw bits and pieces. But as her death drew nearer she started to see more. She saw what life would be like for those she held most dear, and she was devastated. The more she tried to change the worse it got.

In the end, like with her death, she had no choice. All she could do was try and mitigate as much damage as she could. She swore she would never forgive herself for what she had to allow to happen, she always hated Dumbledore and his ‘greater good’ line, but she couldn’t find another path.

There were those that would do anything they could to have control over Harry. If Harry had been placed anywhere else whoever his guardians were would have met with an untimely death and he would have then been placed with the Dursley’s. And things would have been worse for him there as he would have already known about magic so they wouldn’t be able to pretend like it didn’t exist.

Lily was subjecting each of you to years of loneliness and suffering, and believe me she hated herself for it, but it was the only way for you all to survive those years. She knew that once you made it through those years you would be able to find each other and become the family you were always meant to be. She left letters to each of you in the Potter Family Vault to try and explain. It was the only way she could find to keep you all alive and ensure that you would get a happy life after.”

The three just sat in contemplation. On one hand all were sad and angry for what each had been forced to endure, but they did understand, at least partially. Sirius and Remus more than Harry as they had truly known Lily and knew that she never would have done that to them if there was even a slight chance something else would work.

“Did my parents do anything else?” Harry finally questioned.

Elora glanced around. “Yes, they did. One of the final things your mum saw was what could happen after the Dark Lord was gone. She saw you being convinced to enter a marriage contract that you didn’t fully understand. You would spend the rest of your life in a loveless marriage. I don’t know exactly who wants the contract…”

“Dumbledore.” Sirius growled before expanding when he saw the interested look on Elora’s face. “We were called to Dumbledore’s office only a few hours after Harry got out of the hospital. Amongst the things Dumbledore wanted from us was for us to agree to signing a marriage contract between Harry And Ginny Weasley. We refused of course, but we’ve all been getting letters pretty much everyday trying to convince us to sign the contract they created.”

Elora nodded her understanding, she had heard Lily rant about those who would try and force her son into a loveless marriage often prior to her death. “It wouldn’t really matter even if you had agreed with them.”

“Why?” Harry, Sirius, and Remus all questioned in confusion.

“Because Lily knew the result would be her son being miserable… So she made sure it wouldn’t happen.” Elora pointed out.

Harry’s eyes went big as he glanced over to his year mate and then back to his mother, blushing furiously as he did so. He was slightly confused because he thought, given his presence, that it was Blaise he was contracted too, but Blaise was a boy, and he didn’t think that was legal. “I already have a contract, don’t I?”

Elora gave a soft smile at Harry’s embarrassment. “In a manner of speaking, yes. After discussing it, your parents asked to put a contract in place for you with Blaise, and I agreed.”

“But he’s a boy?” Harry forced out as his pink cheeks went a fiery red.

Sirius was confused, but Remus understood being a half-blood who lived in the muggle world for years. “It’s fine in the magical world Harry, didn’t you get the sex education class during your fourth year?” Seeing the look of confusion on Harry’s face he sighed out cursing Dumbledore’s name in his head, he really didn’t understand why the man was so determined to leave Harry oblivious. “In the magical world there is generally no stigma against same sex relationships.

Well, generally those raised in the magical world have no issue. Many muggle-born and muggle raised have brought their prejudice from the muggle world with them, but they are in the minority. Because of magic children are still possible between same sex couples so even to the most old fashioned magicals who feel marriage should only be about procreation have no issue with it. A vast majority of magicals tend to be bisexual rather than only interested in one gender. I’ll get you the pamphlet that is given out during the class and Sirius and I will go over anything you have questions about.”

“But Moony…” Sirius whined in horror. He had hated the sex talk he had been given, he couldn’t even imagine the horrors of being the one giving it. Not to mention his little pup was far to young to even be considering sex. Getting a serious look on his face he glared at the boy sitting next to his mother in warning, he was going to be keeping an eye on him that was for sure.

Harry was horribly embarrassed by both Sirius and Remus’s reactions, although he would prefer Sirius’s. He didn’t want the sex talk, he lived in a dorm full of boys, he got the basics. Blaise couldn’t repress a slight shiver at the glare he was receiving, the man might have been innocent of his crimes but he had still spent over a decade in Azkaban before he escaped, the man was intimidating. But he also found all of this slightly entertaining.

Sirius snapped out of glaring to turn his attention onto the boys mother. “So what kind of contract is it? Do we need to worry about it being broken? Are we sure they can get out of it when they are of age?”

“The contract is based mainly off the one I had with James. It’s a betrothal contract with an optional marriage contract at the end of the betrothal.” Elora told them. “But, it was Lily herself who wrote up most of it. She took James’s and my contract and made the alterations she wanted.

Given her abilities we trusted her to arrange things in a way that was best for the boys. I went through it after and it is quite… extensive. One of the main differences is that she made sure that it was an exclusive contract that required fidelity, she didn’t want Harry being tricked into marrying someone he didn’t want because of a child or indiscretion. She also ensured that the boys would be protected in every way possible and that no one can break it through trickery. The contract itself is magically enforced to ensure that there is no… impropriety, either on the part of the boys or someone else. If they do anything they aren’t supposed to by accident or unintentionally their own magic will warn them with a slight stinging hex as a reminder. If they intentionally violate the contract their magic will be restricted temporarily.”

“Restricted?” Sirius questioned in worry.

“It isn’t anything to severe.” Elora assured. “The first time it will only be an hour, second time it is 24 hours. After that another day will be added each time.”

“And what if they are forced to break the rules.” Remus questioned. “I figure they are going to be required to spend a certain amount of time together each week like you and James had too, what if they are forcibly stopped from meeting up?”

“To be honest, I’m not exactly sure how she managed to create it in such a small amount of time, but Lily somehow managed to tie the contract to intent using a combination of runes and charms. I don’t really understand it myself, but she explained the basics to me.” Elora told them. “From how Lily described it before any punishment is given the magic of the contract will check the intent behind it.

If someone were to force either boy to violate the contract they would be the one to be punished. Since only Harry and Blaise’s magic will be bound to the contract the punishment won’t be loss of magic or anything like that. Instead, if they unintentionally force the boys into violating the contract they will receive the same stinging hex as the boys would. If they do it intentionally then they will receive an ongoing stinging hex that will grow stronger and stronger the longer they stand in the way of either boy carrying out their end of the agreement.

The contract is connected to these.” Elora held up two crystals, one green and one red. “Harry’s is the red, for Gryffindor, and Blaise’s is green for Slytherin. We, as guardians will keep the crystals. They will glow if the contract is being violated. It will be dim if it is unintentional and bright if intentional. If there is another person involved they will flash, again, dim if unintentional and brighter if intentional. And as a final security measure they will start to whistle if the boys are given any potion that could compromise them. If they ingest anything like loyalty or love potions we will know. The whistling will get louder the stronger the potion is. The same thing will happen with any charms or curses except charms result in a buzzing while curses will cause the crystal to vibrate.”

“Wow, Lily was really concerned.” Sirius whistled at the ways Lily had found to protect her son from being manipulated or controlled.

“If they were betrothed since before that night… Why hasn’t the contract already broken?” Remus questioned as he looked between the two teenage boys. “As far as I know Harry and Blaise haven’t spent any time around each other outside of class.”

Elora nodded. “If the contract was in effect previously it would have been an issue. The contract James and I had came into effect when we were 11. The contract between Blaise and Harry goes into effect on July 31st. It will take full effect when the boys are both 16.”

“So the contract only lasts for 1 year?” Sirius said in slight confusion. “Seems like a lot of work to only offer protection for a single year.”

“No.” Elora shook her head. “Harry was raised in the muggle world. Although some consider 16 to be a legal adult in the muggle world since that is when they start to gain autonomy from their parents and can do things like leave school or join their armed services, the actual age of majority is 18. A legal guardian can take them to court to regain control should they disagree with the choices they make before then.

And that is a risk we can not take. The betrothal contract lasts until Harry turns 18. Only then can the marriage contract be agreed too or cancelled. It guarantees that no one in either the magical or muggle world can gain any control.”

“And… Are you ok with this?” Harry’s voice was shy as he glanced threw his eyelashes at his classmate. Harry was still struggling with his old mindset that being interested in boys was wrong, but he couldn’t deny the other boy in the room was drop dead gorgeous.

Blaise, at 16 years old, was 5’9’’ tall. He had a rich dark caramel skin tone and eyes that were even darker than Snape’s. His body type would be classed more like a chaser, he was larger than a seeker but not as bulky as a beater. His lips weren’t full, but they also weren’t exactly thin, and his hair was as dark as the night, even darker than Harry’s own mop.

Blaise looked at his year mate. “I’m fine with it. Mother explained it to me last year.”

“And you have no problems with any of the clauses?” Sirius questioned. “It means you aren’t going to be able to date anyone for the next 2 years.”

Blaise just raised an eyebrow. “As I said, my mother explained it to me. I am fine with it.”

“But is the contract even binding?” Sirius questioned. “Harry is a recognized member of House Black, so any contract for him would require a signature by Lord Black.”

“Yes, the contract is legal and binding. Lily made the arrangements herself. The contract was actually signed only three days before the attack. Because she wanted it kept secret it was done in a private room in Gringotts with the privacy wards up. I can only tell you about it now because you have guardianship of Harry and Remus was included on the list of who could be told, now that you know others can be told, but only with your permission. Other than that the details of the contract, including Blaises involvement, can't be mentioned until after Harry's 16th birthday. Lily and James signed for Harry, my father and I signed for Blaise, Arcturus Black signed as Lord Black, and Frank and Alice Longbottom signed as witnesses. The contract is ironclad.

Blaise, why don’t you and Harry go outside and discuss things.” Elora instructed her son so she could hav a moment with her old friends. “Harry will most likely have a few questions, and since you have already read everything you can answer them. After all, no one wants to discuss things like this with their parents or parental figures.”

Blaise scoffed but got up. “That didn’t stop you from discussing it with me.”

Elora chuckled at her son. “Well of course dear, I am your mother. It is my job to embarrass you, even when we’re alone. Now, off you go.”

Seeing that theywere dismissed Harry guided Blaise out into the back garden, shooting Sirius and Remus an interested look, he wondered what they didn’t want him to overhear.

Remus waited until he heard the back door close as the boys went outside, keeping Sirius quiet by glaring at him until he was sure they were alone. ‘There is more to this contract than you are saying, isn’t there?”

Well of course Remus.” Elora sat back with a slight smile. “Lily saw a great many different futures. There is no guarantee which one will come to pass.”

“But it involves Harry and your son?” As Elora was relaxing Sirius was growing tense. This was his little pup they were discussing.

“In some.” Elora gracefully shrugged. “From what Lily told me in some futures Harry and Blaise become friends like James and I did due to the contract. In others… In other futures the contract is the catalyst that causes them to fall madly in love and they will be just as in love on the day of their 50th anniversary as they are on the day they marry. Which direction they go is up to them. I just don’t want either of them to feel pressured to do or feel anything they don’t just because Lily once had a dream about our grandchildren.”

That was enough to make Sirius conflicted. On one hand Harry was still a baby to him and he was to remain a virgin until he was 50, on the other hand he wouldn’t mind grandpups to spoil.

“There is still something we need to discuss.” Remus said in a serious voice as he gave Elora a critical look.

“And just what might that be?” Elora questioned.

“You have a bit of a reputation.” Remus wasn't going to risk anything happening to Harry. “You’ve had 7 husbands over the years, all of them are dead. I know you’ve never been implicated, but you also just confessed to killing one of them yourself. We won’t take any chances with Harry’s safety.”

Elora nodded her understanding, they didn’t want to risk that her son might be just as dangerous as she was, he was, but in a different way. “You’re worried I taught my son my less than legal way of getting out of a marriage… I have taught Blaise much that many would deem… questionable, but nothing like that.”

“The one thing I could never get… The gossips said you did it for money, but your family is one of the richest in Italy. You’ve never lacked for money.” Remus gave Elora an appraising look.

Elora thought for a moment but decided to be honest with them. She had already confessed to one murder, it wasn't like a few more was going to make a difference. “I did it for Lily.”

“LILY?!” Sirius an Remus both cried out in shocked confusion.

“Yes, as I said, Lily saw a great deal as she got closer to her death. Amongst the things she saw was future conflicts and wars. Of my 6 other husbands 2 were secret supporters of the Dark Lord that would have brought him back sooner than Harry could have survived. One was a rising Dark Lord in his own right that if allowed to continue would have killed thousands when one of his experiments went wrong. As it was he had already started experimenting on people and had killed over 30 by the time I got to him.” Elora felt no guilt for what she had done.

“And the other 3?” Sirius questioned.

Elora examined the men, not sure how they were going to take what she said next. “I can only hope that you have figured out by now that Albus Dumbledore isn’t everything he pretends to be. He has convinced himself that he is helping our world to the point where he will do whatever he wants to make things how he wants them.

And what he wants is to find a way to combine our world with the muggle one. He has convinced himself that once our worlds integrate magicals will naturally find our ways into positions of power because as much as he claims muggles are just as capable as we are, he doesn’t really believe it. For some reason he thinks the muggles will just willingly allow us to rule. It’s insane and would result in all out war, one which no one will win.

Two of my late husbands were involved with this plan as they agreed with the idea of us ruling over muggles. But to be safe he wants to begin with placating the muggles. One of them had managed to gain majority shares in a number of muggle drug companies as well as an apothecary. He had already started using his position to have potions integrated into muggle medicine in order to make them calm and docile in regards to magic. The other one had similarly managed to gain majority shares in a number of airlines as well as broadcasting stations. It would have allowed him to control muggles ability to move around the world as well as control the types of information they got.

My most recent husband, Randolph, was less of a danger and more of a hinderance. Randolph was in charge of monitoring the quality of education and setting standards for all European ICW schools, which includes Hogwarts. Since gaining that position, with Dumbledore’s assistance, he had been systematically lowering standards, much like Dumbledore had done with Hogwarts. Dumbledore learned a long time ago that the best way to control a population is to control the children. It’s very easy to come off as all powerful if you never teach the children how to harness their own power.

Getting rid of Randolph allowed me to step into his place, at least for the next year. I will be able to return the standards back to what they were and since I am part of the team at Hogwarts I will be able to forcibly improve it. Already we are working on finding teachers for all the classes that are supposed to be available that Dumbledore cancelled.

It is also beneficial that I will be staying at the school next year and will be able to keep an eye on the boys. While things aren’t going to be perfect because Dumbledore still has his own plans, those men were integral to them. It’s put things back by over a decade minimum and he can be stopped before he will be a danger again. Each of them were the catalyst for a new conflict that won’t happen now. I know most would say I should feel remorse, but I don’t. If I could go back and kill the Dark Lord before he became what he was then I wouldn’t hesitate.

Lily was not an evil person. She only gave me a list of those she was sure would be dangerous. None of them were innocent, even outside of what they were planning each had harmed if not killed others before. Even Randolph, who was minor in comparison to the others, was not innocent. He was abusive to his first wife and was trying to gain custody of their daughter, who he had also abused before her mother took her and ran.”

Sirius and Remus just stared for a moment as they tried to digest that. But in the end, they couldn’t really argue the point. Lily wasn't evil, and if they had had a chance to save their friends from Voldemort they would have. It was just easier to move on, the list was done so there would hopefully be no more dead bodies.


	9. Alice has Some Fun

As the second week of summer began a number of people found themselves crammed into the kitchen of The Burrow. Amongst them was a less than impressed Alice and Frank Longbottom. Albus had personally arrived at their house to request, demand, their attendance.

They hadn’t wanted to leave Neville, but Alice thought she knew what it was about and wanted to watch the train wreck. During the times she and Frank brought Neville over to visit with Harry Sirius and Remus had explained about Albus and Mollys marriage contract idea. They knew about the contract Harry already had since Lily had had them there to sign it so they knew it wasn't going to work. But, Remus and Sirius had suggested Alice announce the contract she had signed, not including the name of Harry’s betrothed, if Albus tried to involve her as Harry’s godmother. The chance to see the reactions was just too good an opportunity to pass up.

That was what led to them all trying to find room in the small kitchen. The room was far to small for the number of people in there, especially since it wasn’t just the Order members, but the Weasley children and the Granger girl as well. There were more than a few grumbles about the fact that after having to deal with Molly’s screeching the year before now the children were being invited. That, and the fact Voldemort was gone and no one knew why they needed to be at the meeting.

“Thank you all for coming.” Albus smiled around jovially after all the greetings had been done and Molly had dished out the tea and snacks.

“What is this about Albus?” Mad-Eye questioned, he had no intention of wasting time. He had his retirement to get back too, although it wasn't really retirement, he spent his days and night secretly surveilling those he was sure were criminals but hadn’t been caught. There were a great number of people that needed his attention, he didn’t want to be sitting in a kitchen having Molly Weasley trying to give him food and drink, he was no fool, he never touched any of it.

“Given everything that has recently happened I thought we needed to meet and discuss what comes next.” Albus said in a sober voice, he didn’t like the tone so many had taken now that they had a momentary reprieve from Tom and his people. “I understand that everyone was relieved that we have peace once again, but there is no guarantee that it will last forever. Voldemort found his way to return once already, there is no way to guarantee he didn’t tell at least a few of his followers how to do it again. Too that end, we need to do everything we can to protect young Harry.”

“I’m all for protecting Harry, but what do you think we can do?” Shacklebolt asked. “From what I’ve heard he seems perfectly safe living with Remus and Sirius.”

“That is the problem.” Molly hated that Harry was living with those two, they were in her way to making sure Harry was what he was supposed to be, which was her daughters devoted husband. “Remus and Sirius are not proper role models for an impressionable young boy like Harry. They wouldn’t even protect him from being forced into a marriage contract.”

“What? Marriage contract?” A few questioned.

“There isn’t currently a contract.” Albus said to soothe those who were worried or confused by that information, he really needed to get Molly to learn when to shut up. “That is one of the reasons I called this meeting. We need to get Sirius to see sense.

After a few discussions it was agreed that to ensure that Harry wasn't forced into marriage due to trickery or an accidental pregnancy we would write up a contract between Harry and Ginny. It was breakable once they were both of age but would serve to protect them both from anything untoward and ensure their good names. But the day we went to sign it Sirius became completely unreasonable and refused. I was hoping you would all help me in encouraging Sirius to do what is best for Harry.”

“Harry agreed to bond with _Ginny_?” The twins questioned as one in horrified confusion. They knew Harry had absolutely no interest in their little sister.

“Well of course.” Ginny flipped her hair over her shoulder dramatically.

“Why wouldn’t he?” Molly questioned in offence. “Ginny and Harry would make a wonderful match. Sirius just can’t accept that there are others more important in Harry’s life than he is.”

“Enough of this.” Arthur snapped, the normally calm man had been pushed to his limits with his wife’s constant harping on this subject. “No, to all of it. If there were any discussions about this contract it was only between you and Molly Albus, Sirius and I had absolutely no idea what you two were up to until you put a contract we had never read in front of us and demanded we sign it.

Sirius wasn't the only one to refuse to sign it either. I was not going to force bond Harry and Ginny together. Anyone who knows anything about marriage contracts knows just how finicky they can be and I will not endanger my daughter like that.

And no, Harry did not agree. Ginny, sweetheart, I know you and your mum have built this idea of a fairytale wedding and a perfect life, but it isn’t real. I realize now I should have stepped in sooner but I thought it was just normal girl stuff. But you can not just lie about things like this to get your way. I spoke with Harry about it and although he said you were a nice enough girl he just didn’t see you like that. It wouldn’t be fair to either of you to trap you in a marriage were there is no love, and I know you say the contract was breakable Albus, but I still have no intention of signing it.”

“But daddy…” Ginny whined as she pouted and stomped her foot.

“Harry and Ginny would be wonderful together Arthur, anyone who’s ever even seen the two can tell that. They’d be just like James and Lily.” Molly glared at her husband. “The contract would just be there for their protection. I’m sure once Harry got over the usual boy stuffand fear of commitment he would see just how perfect he and our Ginny would be for each other.”

Alice cleared her throat at that to cut in before anyone could respond, she could see the pure rage in Severus’s eye at the reference to Ginny being like Lily. “There really is no need for this debate.”

“Exactly.” Albus smiled, pleased the woman had been healed. As Harry’s godmother she had just as much say in his life a Sirius would. “This is just about protecting the children. It’s one of the reasons I was so insistent you be here Alice my girl. As Harry’s godmother you have the same rights to Harry as Sirius. I have the contract here, so you could at least sign the contract to put it in place. It wouldn’t be fully binding without Sirius’s signature, but if you signed it he would see it really is what’s best for Harry. As a mother I’m sure you could convince him you know what’s best for a child, like Molly.”

Alice looked at the papers Albus pulled out with contempt. “I will not be signing those. And that isn’t what I meant. There is no need for any of you to create a contract for Harry, not that any of you have a right since he is not your child.

You were not the only ones with those worries about Harry being forced into something he didn’t want Albus. James and Lily were concerned as well. They were afraid that they wouldn’t survive to see Harry grow up, and they had the same idea you did. Frank and I were called to the bank a few days before the attack to sign as witnesses a betrothal contract for Harry.”

“WHAT?” A number of people gasped, none louder than Albus, Molly, and Ginny.

“Yes, like I said, James and Lily knew there was a good chance they wouldn’t survive and they wanted to make sure Harry was safe.” Alice said with a smile. “Since Harry already has a contract, signed by his own parents, no other contract for him would b valid.”

“Lily would never agree to such a thing.” Minerva was horrified thinking James had forced Lily into signing her sons future away like that, ignoring the fact her friend was trying to get her to help him do exactly that.

“Actually, Lily was the one that wrote the contract and selected the betrothed.” Alice said with a slight shrug of her shoulder. “James agreed with her, but she was the one who handled everything. Every single clause in that contract was made by Lily to ensure the best protection for her son possible.”

“And the betrothed, who is she?” Albus was desperate to know, hoping he could either get the girl on his side or find a way to terminate the contract, even if he had to arrange for some unfortunate accident to occur, sacrifices must be made for the greater good. “Just who would Lily trust with her son?”

“I can’t tell you that.” Alice said in a cheerful voice.

“You most certainly can.” Molly glared at the woman she had once respected. Now all she saw was a woman that stood against her securing her daughters future. “The Headmaster has the right to know.”

“No, he doesn’t, not really.” Alice kept her tone placid, but was beginning to understand why her son hadn’t had anything nice to say about the youngest Weasley children when they had asked, if they were anything like their mother they were demanding and rude. “As it is, what I mean is we really _can’t_ say. Lily and the mother of the betrothed were both worried about someone trying to manipulate the children since the betrothed was in their own kind of danger, only from extended family members looking to take advantage. To protect both children the contract was signed in Gringotts under secrecy wards. The only ones who know are bound to silence.”

Albus blinked. What had James been thinking allowing Lily to do something so foolish. The woman knew nothing about contracts, she had been a muggle-born and he had ensured they never learned any of the foolish olde traditions. Well he himself practiced many of the old rituals as they strengthened his magic he didn’t like the idea of the average public doing them. He was the next Merlin, his magic needed more care than theirs did.

“I thought marriage contracts had clauses in them that made people spend time together?” Hermione spoke up wanting to help the Headmaster while proving her own knowledge. “Harry only spends his time with us. That would mean he has violated the contract so it is no longer valid.”

Albus smiled at the girl, pleased he had decided to include her in Harry’s life in their first year. “Hermione is correct. Since Harry and his betrothed violated the contract it isn’t valid anymore and Harry will need a new one.”

“They haven’t violated anything.” Frank said. “If they had violated the contract everyone would have known. The contract would have punished them, as everyone knows contracts can be vicious when violated. Many contracts do not have those strict clauses in the beginning and instead slowly build up to making the participants spend time together. Lily wasn't the type who would force her son to do anything when he was still so young. We saw the contract when we signed it and from what I know they have abided by the clauses without Harry even knowing it existed.”

“We will have to speak with Remus and Sirius about it.” Alice said suddenly, giving them some cover so Albus didn’t think they had known and not told him, the man never responded well to being denied information even though he never told anyone the full story. “Neither of them were involved in signing the contract so they wouldn’t even know the contract exists. They will have to take Harry to the bank to be able to look at a copy.”

“William.” Albus turned to the eldest Weasley son seeing an opportunity to gain at last some basic control. “You will need to get a copy of the contract from the goblins so I can go over it with Harry and Sirius.”

“No.” Bill said, shock evident in his voice.

“William Arthur Weasley, you will do as the Headmaster requests. He is just trying to protect Harry. He knows what is best.”

“To get a copy of a contract like that I would need to go through the legal department, no human employee is even allowed in there, it’s a strictly goblin only office as they do not trust humans.” Bill explained. “The only ones that can even see a copy is Harry or his guardians. If I even attempted to gain access to those kinds of contracts not only would I be fired for violating my contract. If I managed to get a copy and even spoke of it to another I would be sentenced to 10 years minimum in the mines, handing out private information about a client, especially one as important as Harry, is a major crime. So no, I will not even try and find Harry’s contract.

Harry and Sirius will be able to get it without any issues or danger to them. If they want to share what’s in it or who Harry is betrothed to then they can. If they don’t want to then they won’t.”

Molly didn’t like the denial, but knew she wouldn’t win that argument. Although, having Bill do something that would get him fired wasn't a bad idea, she hated that Bill worked there and was never home. If she could manage it without having him sent to the goblin mines she would do it in a heartbeat.

“Why are we even meeting about this?” Severus was irritated at being forced to spend time with all these fools yet again rather than having a nice relaxing afternoon brewing. “I have no interest in the love life of Potter, or any of the dunderheads for that matter. The boy has a contract, that is the end of it. No one can doubt that Lily would know what is best for her son, not the rest of us. If Lily made that contract, then it is fine with me.”

Many privately agreed with Severus, but they didn’t want to be seen disagreeing with the great Albus Dumbledore. They trusted that a woman like Lily, who had been so loyal to the light side, would have ensured her son wouldn’t be swayed to the dark by whoever it was she had selected to contract him too.

Albus was annoyed as he watched Severus get up and leave the house, the man really was becoming a problem. But he knew he could deal with Severus later, he was more focused on finding some way to regain control of the Potter boy. As he looked around he could see that many of his people just didn’t understand how important it was to combine the Potter and Weasley families. It would keep the Potter name linked with the light side, raise the Weasley social standing back up to the point they could reclaim their position on the Wizengamot, a position they had lost due to a few broken contracts, it would also replenish the Weasley coffers, something Albus wanted since he knew they would give him any amount he asked for since Molly and the two youngest were so loyal to him, and it would also ensure Harry was controlled and had an heir for when he died, Albus knew Molly and Ginny would be able to control the boy and any child he had. Seeing no other choice Albus dismissed everyone while encouraging them to speak with Sirius, Remus, and Harry about the contract whenever they saw them.

Soon enough Albus was alone in the kitchen with Minerva, Hermione, and some of the Weasley’s. Arthur, and the 5 older boys, including the visiting Percy who had slowly been making peace with his father and 4 of his brothers at least, had all moved to the living room, not visible to the others but close enough to hear what the latest plans for Harry were so that they could warn him. Given the behaviour of the others in the house it had become clear things weren’t what they had always seemed and they were all pretty angry about the things they had been hearing and what they suspected. Molly, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all gathered around the end of the table Albus and Minerva were sitting at to discuss what Albus was planning.

“What do you need us to do Headmaster?” Molly asked sweetly but she was still clearly angry about not getting Harry contracted to her precious girl.

“We need to find out just who Harry is contracted too and see if there is any way to terminate the contract. It’s most likely not possible, but Lily didn’t know anything about contracts so there is at least a possibility that she left loopholes.” Albus said.

“I want the contract we agreed on.” Ginny was furious at being denied, no one told her no and got away with it. “I was promised the position of Lady Potter, wife of the Boy-Who-Lived. I will not let that be taken away from me by some loser who doesn’t deserve it.”

“We know sweetheart.” Molly smoothed her hand down her girls long hair to calm her. “We won’t let that contract remain. The Headmaster will ensure that the contract we made for the two of you is signed.”

“Ronald. Hermione. You are going to need to reach out to Harry.” Albus turned to the two students who made faces at the idea. “You need to get yourselves invited to wherever he is living or get him to come to The Burrow, The Burrow would be best. You also need to find a way to convince him to tell you who he is betrothed to and try and find a way to get him to let you at least see the contract.”

“Already?” Ron whined. “We only just got away from the prat.”

“Ronald.” Molly snapped at her son for speaking like that to a great man like the Headmaster. “I know you don’t like how whiny he can be, but you agreed to all of this. I know it is hard now, but it will all be worth it once Ginny and Harry are married. No one will deny the family of the Boy-Who-Lived. You will have all the fame and money you could ever dream of.”

Hermione sighed, but knew they couldn’t argue that point, it was why they had done everything they had after all, to be rid of You-Know-Who, to be guaranteed good jobs so they could lead society, and to be rich and famous. “We will try Headmaster. Harry has just been rather difficult since he returned from the hospital. He wouldn’t listen to a word we said.”

“I am aware of the issues and am working on addressing them.” Albus assured the girl. “Just try your best.”

“What about me? Do I get to write to Harry?” Ginny questioned.

“Not right now.” Albus was pleased she was so willing to do whatever it took to get Harry. It made it easier that he had had Molly foster the desperate crush since she was a child, Albus knew that if she wasn't so obsessed with the boy she would have been an absolute nightmare to deal with. “Since Harry knows about our desire for the match having you write him now, when you don’t normally write him during the summer, will just make him feel pressured and make him pull away even more. You know how stubborn teenage boys can be about things like this, always so afraid of commitment.”

“Must we really go this far Albus?” Minerva questioned. “I know Harry can be a stubborn boy, but do we really need to push him like this? Yes, Ms. Weasley, I agree the two of you would make a wonderful match, but forcing it just seems wrong. Harry may just need some time.”

“It’s for the greater good Minerva.” Albus assured his deputy. “Voldemort isn’t gone for good, not yet. We need to ensure that Harry stays on the right path. We have no idea who he has been betrothed too, we can’t trust they won’t sway him away from the light. I know he is still a young boy and has been called upon to do so much already, but greatness isn’t for the weak of heart. He is strong, he will get through this, Ms. Weasley, knowing everything she does, will be more equipped to help him through everything that is to come. Harry will need the support of not just his friends in the trying times to come, but also a loving wife and supportive family, all which Ms. Weasley can offer him.”

Minerva thought about it for a moment and agreed, as she always did with anything Albus told her. She felt bad for all the things Harry had had to lose, including his parents, but she also understood that sometimes sacrifice was needed for the betterment of their world. “If you're sure Albus. Is there anything you need me to do?”

“If the children can’t learn who Harry is betrothed to it will be up to us.” Albus smiled now that he was getting his way. “As Harry’s head of house you will be better positioned to monitor him. He will need to come to both of us to make arrangements if there are any requirements for him and his betrothed to spend time together or go on dates during the school year. We will need to do everything we can to limit that. We can’t stop it all together as we are required to accommodate legally binding contracts, but we need to do what we can to get them to break the contract.”

“Of course Albus, I’ll do my part.” Minerva nodded.

“Molly, you are going to need to keep your temper with Remus and Sirius.” Albus said, giving her a warning look when she looked like she was going to argue. “I understand your problem with them, I feel the same, but we need to keep our heads. Harry is rather attached to them and unfortunately will listen to them over us right now. It will take a bit of time for us to separate them. Harry is just excited right now since he’s never had someone like them in his life before. In time I have no doubt he will come to understand he is just a replacement for his father to them and will grow tired of their antics. He will remember all you and your family have done for him while they weren’t there. Then we will be able to get him back under control and ensure he doesn’t make the same mistakes again. But until then, you can not alienate them.”

Molly grumbled, but agreed to do as she was told. To her keeping her temper just meant no howlers, she saw no issue with normal letters to explain to them all that they were doing wrong. Harry was supposed to be marrying her daughter, she wouldn’t allow him to be corrupted by the dark, not only for the sake of her daughter, but for her future grandbabies.

* * *

In the other room the Weasley males were all less than impressed. None of them liked the way the rest of the family was behaving.

Arthur was annoyed with the way his wife and youngest children were behaving. He just couldn’t understand why Molly believed that she could force him, and Sirius and Remus, to force bond Harry and Ginny. He didn’t understand just why it was she thought she should be in charge of the lives of everyone, although he could admit he shared some of the blame for her beliefs as he had always just allowed her to dictate so much of their families lives even though he was the head of house. He knew he was going to have to have a long hard talk with his wife about how she was behaving, it was well past time he address her behaviour.

Bill, Charlie, and Percy were as annoyed as their father, but they were also disgusted. They loved their little sister, but they didn’t think it was in any way acceptable to try and force someone into something like a marriage contract against someones wishes. They had all watched Ginny’s growing obsession with the Boy-Who-Lived as they had grown up, and at the time it had been cute, but it wasn't anymore. Ginny’s obsession had passed cute a few years earlier and had moved into stalker territory. They understood that his saving her life the way he did when she was in her first year would have made her like him more, but it was obvious he was uncomfortable around her.

When Bill and Charlie had been around them during the World Cup and at Grimmauld it was clear Harry wasn't interested. Harry seemed to do everything he could to avoid Ginny and her poor attempts at flirting made him highly uncomfortable. But then they had been told the rumours that Harry secretly liked Ginny but just didn’t want to upset the family, they had both looked for any hint of a crush on Harry’s part and found nothing. To anyone with eyes it was obvious that Harry just wasn't interested, and they were fine with that.

Percy only had the time they were in school together to go off and the World Cup, but he knew Harry had never shown any interest in Ginny. He couldn’t deny that having the Boy-Who-Lived in the family would certainly help improve the Weasley family name, but he had no intention of getting it through trickery or force. If Harry was truly interested in Ginny he would have supported them wholeheartedly, but he just couldn’t bring himself to ever support the idea of forcing a marriage contract. He wasn't overly fond of Harry given his general disregard of rules, but he did have a strong belief in behavioural standards that he wouldn’t compromise, and a forced marriage contract just wasn't ok.

Fred and George were just generally disgusted. Hearing the way their friend and financial backer was being spoken about just wasn't acceptable. They had always known something was off in the way Ron and Hermione acted differently based on whether Harry was around or not, but they hadn’t thought it went that far. The way they spoke was like they were talking about someone they hated rather than a boy they had claimed was their best friend for years. Harry was a genuinely good person, they had no right to speak about, or treat, him that way. He was a boy, not a tool.

And they didn’t want to get started on the idea of him being contracted to their sister. Ginny just wasn't right for Harry. They knew, or at least had extremely strong suspicions, that he was gay. A relationship with Ginny just wasn't going to happen, no matter what their mother, younger brother, and sister wanted. Harry deserved better, and they would do whatever they could to help him.

All of the men decided to write a letter to warn Harry of what they were hearing independently, not knowing, although suspecting, that the others would be doing the same thing. None of them thought Harry should be unprepared for what was to come.

Fred and George in particular had plans. Harry was their friend, and no one got to treat their friend like that, not even members of their own family.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been going through some of my files and have found a bunch of old fics I never got around to posting so I'm going to be going over them and adding them over the next few weeks. This is one of them.


End file.
